Xmen: Evolved
by Lucida Lownes
Summary: The original X-Men are all grown up and have kids. Some of these kids are at the Institute, and there's a bound of new mutants too. OC story with canon characters and some canon pairings. Suggestions for plot are welcome.
1. Artifice part 1

**Author Note(s): I love Philippe. He's so, I don't know. Anyway, this is not a one shot. I will only write it though when I'm inspired by the Evolved generation running around in my head. Heh. Philippe demanded being first and there will be more to follow after this. I swear. But I need to work on my other stories. Haha. Bad writer's block and school being a block of stuff. School does that...**

**I don't own X-Men: Evolution but I do own some of the characters. Id you want to use any of my characters, ask me first. I might say yes. Also, look up Artifice on deviantart. Search that with xmen evolution and you'll see his picture.**

In his humble opinion, Philippe Henri Logan LeBeau was one handsome devil. He inherited a lot of his looks from his father, Remy LeBeau. Shaggy brown hair that he wore long and in a ponytail. His father's red on black eyes. The chiseled features. Although, he did get his mother's, Anna Marie's, nose, white streak, and a mix of his mother's and his father's chin. Of course, both were good looking folks so that meant, in Philippe LeBeau's mind, that he was smoking.

He had absolutely no problem flaunting this fact. Every club, bar, or anywhere he went, he spent time showing off his skills and charming every woman on the property. And if the boyfriend or someone else tried to start a fight, he maneuvered a way so that it wasn't his fault and he could remain while the other party was thrown out.

A fine night in New Orleans and Philippe was preparing to head out for another night on the town. His mother did not like it but she let it go, telling him "naht ta get killed." He dad would just laugh and slap him on the back and say "don' be too harsh on de filles." But today, his mother approached him, an annoyed look on her aged yet still lovely face, green eyes sparking warningly.

"Phil, I told ya naht ta go out tanight," she scolded. "Some guests from Xavier's are comin' down and you promised thaht ya would at least greet them."

"Ah, but Mama," Philippe said, pulling off his charms, "I have waited and waited and dey have yet to come. Sides, I promised to meet some amis." Anna Marie glowered at him, pushing back a strand of white hair and making it mix with her auburn strands.

"Fahne, Phil," she growled, making Philippe think of Wolverine, one of the guys he was named after. Philippe gave his mother a grin and kissed her fair cheek.

"Merci, Mama," he said. "I promise I'll be back soon."

"Y'know Ah know thaht's a lie so get outta here before Ah change mah mind," Anna Marie told him. Philippe laughed and gave her a salute, exiting the house. Not ten minutes later, a knock came on the door. Anna Marie took her time to get there. She might be a bit more polite in her age but she would not hurry if she didn't feel like it. She opened the door and

"Hello, Mrs. LeBeau, we're here from the Institute. Nice to meet you."

----

Philippe stood in one of the most popular clubs for locals. He casually leaned against the wall, holding his beverage as he scanned the crowd for possible prey-ahem, ladies. Most of the crowd tonight did not boast any kind of challenge or interest. He had multiple girls come up and he introduced himself kindly and charmed them but eventually sent them on their way. He was up for a challenge this evening. He then noticed two girls and smirked.

One stood about a petite five two and had long, auburn hair that was obviously dyed. She had fair, sun kissed skin. She wore a pastel, form fitting, very complimenting outfit without showing too much and was obviously use to attention.

The other girl had long, rich blonde hair pulled into a lazy ponytail, part of her hair hanging in front of her left eye. Her skin looked like she hardly went outside but her cheeks held a warm glow, almost like a porcelain doll. She was tall and lean, probably about five seven or five eight. Unlike the other girl, she wore lose and comfortable clothing that left much to the imagination and were darker shades of blues and purples.

Philippe could tell they were related if only for the fact that they had the same shape eyes and the same shade of blue. Otherwise, he would have thought they were just friends. But the thing that made him smirk is that anyone who came near the girl with dyed hair, the blonde one would send them a harsh and warning glare and if anyone came near her, she gave off the air of "not interested." Now all Philippe had to do was come up with a plan. And the crooked smirk on his face said he was already getting one.

He pushed off of the wall and moved with such fluid, graceful motions one might find him to be a panther. His eyes were hidden by a pair of shades but if they were not there, one would see the amusement bouncing in the blood red and onyx black eyes. He waited patiently until the two were distracted by their conversation and eased his way over to the auburn-dyed one.

"Bonjour," he said to her, ignoring the blonde. She turned to him and smiled.

"Hello," she said in a friendly tone. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the blonde roll her eyes. He held his smirk back and took the auburn-dyed girl's hand and gently kissed it.

"I'm Philippe," he informed her.

"I'm Danielle an' this is my sister, Audrey," she said, motioning to the girl. Philippe gave her a fleeting look before looking at Danielle. She was easily falling under his spell. How disappointing.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Danielle," he said. "You been in de city long?"

"No, we jus' got here this evening," Danielle informed him. Philippe felt Audrey's glare harden. At the opportune moment, Danielle's phone went off. She excused herself from the two and went to a quiet area. Philippe looked at Audrey with a coy smirk.

"Is somet'in wrong, chere?" He asked, moving closer to her.

"I know yer type," she said in more accent than her sister. It was a pleasant surprise. "Yer one a' those guys tha' thinks he's all tha' and can gehd any girl ta fall head over heels. Stay far away from my sister." Philippe's lips curled into even more of a smirk.

"D'arccord," he stated with a nod. "But, on one condition, chere."

"Wha'?" Audrey asked suspiciously.

"Dat means I can flirt wit' _you_ all night," Philippe informed her with a victorious leer. He saw her blue eyes blaze and immediately found them more intriguing than her sister's. Her jaw clenched as she considered this. Her eyes flitted to her sister and Philippe noticed the protective sibling start to take control. He knew the feeling. He titled his head to the side and shrugged.

"Mais, I'll just go give Danielle some company while she talks," he said nonchalantly, turning to go.

"Wait!" Audrey said, grabbing his arm. He turned to her and smiled coyly. "I surrender. You can flir' an' I will try no' ta gehd mad enough ta punch you inta nex' week." Philippe chuckled, removing his arm from her firm grip.

"Dat sounds good, chere," he stated, moving closer to her. "Shall we sit?" He motioned to a nearby table. Audrey surveyed it like it had the plague but sat down and not in the chair he pulled out for her.

"I'm an independen' Ohiah girl," she retorted, crossing her arms and glaring out at the dance floor. Philippe smirked, sitting down in the chair he had pulled out.

"Ohio? You far off from your state, chere," he commented. Her head snapped to turn the glare to him.

"Stop callin' me tha,'" she ordered. "Thuh name's Audrey. No' 'chere.' Whatever tha' means." She leaned towards him, her eyes glaring into his shaded ones. "And fer yer information, I don' fall fer Frenchies. I like German."

"I have a German uncle and cousin," Philippe leisurely informed her. If his intention was to soften her glare, he would have been sorely disappointed. But, he wasn't as the glare sharpened. He was sure if her glares were tangible, he would be dead by now. But of course, he had his father's love of flirting with danger. "So, you an' your sister, you don' look too alike." Audrey leaned back, crossing her arms, scowling.

"An' ye' id still amazes meh how people confuse us," she growled sarcastically. "This entire time, you weren' interested in my sister. Id was me. You gahd a death wish or somethin'?"

"Dat's what a few amis think," Philippe practically laughed. Audrey rolled her eyes, groaning.

"Y'know, I think tha' thuh French are pretentious," she scoffed, and before anymore flirtations or insults could be thrown, Danielle walked over with someone. Philippe tore his eyes away from the annoyed girl and his eyes widened in shock.

"Will?" He asked.

"Phil?" The man echoed.

----

Philippe looked at his cousin, glowering as they were in the living room of his house. Wilhelm had changed over the years but still had his dark black-brown hair and with the image inducer, a lighter tone of Aunt Amanda's skin. Wilhelm's brown eyes glared harshly at Philippe, who merely offered a smirk to the acrobat-built man. Wilhelm's sharp features glowered.

"Vhy am I not surpized?" He asked, crossing his arms. "First, you do not remain home to greet us and zhen, zhen we find you in a club, _manipulating_ Audrey to spend time wit' you."

"How'd you know it was manipulating, mon cousin?" Philippe asked nonchalantly.

"Becauze Audrey told me in German while you were staring shamelessly at her," Wilhelm growled. "You might be mein Vetter but I vill not let you torment eizher of zhe girlz." Philippe tilted his head to the side, crooked smirk on his face and his eyes glimmering mischeviously.

"Ah, but it wasn' really tormenting, hein?" He asked, getting an eye roll from his younger cousin.

"Only in your twisted ladiez' man'z mind," Wilhelm scoffed. "You're lucky Audrey didn't go 'shadow' on you and use her strengt'." An interested and curious look flitted across Philippe's face.

"What are de filles powers?" He inquired.

"Ach, it'z too late to start one of your pointlez converzationz," Wilhelm growled, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Philippe gave him a pout and Wilhelm looked at him, face dropped slightly. "Nein! Nein! Zhat vill not vork zhis time, Phil!"

"I don' know what you're talkin' 'bout, Will," Philippe said, keeping his pout in place.

"Don' ya'll know id's pathetic when a man pouts?" Someone said, drawing their attention. Audrey stood on the stairs and Philippe was bemused at how he hadn't noticed her coming down. Her hair was down now, rolling over her shoulders like a waterfall of deep gold. She was wearing flannels and a t-shirt. She scrunched her face, seeming to think. "Oh wait. Never mind. Yer no' a man. Go ahead an' pout." She waved them off, headed towards the kitchen. Never one to resist a challenge, Philippe was on his feet in a flash, idly stalking his way over to her.

"Chere, I can _show_ you much of a homme I am," he purred. Audrey glowered then rolled her eyes.

"Lemme alone, Cajun," she growled. "I jus' wanna drink." She looked past him at Wilhelm, a small smile on her face.

"Hallo, Wilhelm," she started. "Nervt der dummkopf du?" Wilhelm laughed, loving the confused look on Philippe's face.

"Nein, er ist meinen Vetter," he said. "Ich bin Gebrauch da zu."

"Ich verstehe," Audrey said then paused, her face scrunched in thought again. "Ich denke. Ah, Gute Nacht." She waved and entered the kitchen. Philippe glowered at Wilhelm.

"I did not understand any a' dat," he said.

"Zhat was zhe point," Wilhelm told him with a grin. Then, Philippe remembered the conversation he had with her concerning French and how she preferred German. He eyed Wilhelm curiously, making the man shift slightly. "Vhat?" He asked finally.

"Do de two of you have a t'ing?" He finally asked. Wilhelm gave him a confused look.

"Vhat? Nein," he said, putting his hands up. "Ve are merely friends. I don't zhink I have enough gutz to be involved. Zhe iz a toughie." Philippe let out a light hearted chuckle at that.

"Sounds like a challenge," he purred, moving to the kitchen. Wilhelm stood with his mouth agape for a second before grabbing his shoulder.

"I am zorry, but I feel like a big bruder to zhem," he informed Philippe. "And I vill defend zhem from even you, mein Vetter."

"Well, ain't dat nice?" Philippe asked with a coy look on his face. He removed his cousin's hand, looking at it then his cousin's face. "Well, if ya'll don't mind, I'll be headin' back out. You all interrupted my nuit." Wilhelm scowled but watched his cousin head to the door.

"My apologiez, Phil," he said. Philippe threw a winning smirk over his shoulder.

"All will be forgiven if you convince dat feisty femme in de kitchen dat she should fall at my feet," he goaded, quickly leaving the house as a pillow was thrown at him.

----

Philippe had been having a good time. That is until a member of the Assassin's guild decided to start some trouble. He soon found himself being thrown into a back alley before he knew what was happening.

"Well, Philippe LeBeau," the leader said and Philippe knew him well. Belladonna's son, the prince of the Assassins. Just what he wanted. He glared at the blonde man, wondering how his hair could possibly be so greasy. He scowled at the sharp tanned face, glaring into brown eyes.

"Bonsoir, Jerome," he said calmly as he was held in place, his hands not able to reach anything. Hm. They had a good hold but he'd get out of it. "Isn' it a bit late for you to be out?" Jerome sneered at him, smacking him.

"Shut your trap, LeBeau!" Jerome exclaimed. Philippe raised a challenging eyebrow. Suddenly, a cry sounded from one of the lackies. Everyone turned to see a shadow person with glowing blue eyes throw the man against a brick wall, effectively knocking him out. The shadow form popped a hip out, placing a hand on the hip.

"Now, I sugges' ya'll le' the flir' go," she said in a drawl that Philippe recognized.

"Chere! I didn' know you cared!" He joked. From what he could tell, her face contorted into a glower at him.

"Ya think I'm gonna led my hosts' kid gehd in a jam?" She asked. Suddenly, one of the lackies released Philippe to run at the shadow girl. She leaped up and floated as he spun to face her. Before he knew what hit him, she had slammed her foot into his chest. As it hit the wall, a painful cracking noise sounded. Philippe took his opportunity, grabbing the man holding him and throwing him at Jerome, sending both flying. Audrey landed beside him and grabbed his wrist.

"How much d'ya like shadows?" She inquired.

"Love 'em, chere," Philippe said with bedroom eyes. He was sure she had rolled her eyes.

"I **should **jus' leave ya here bu' c'mon," she said, pulling him into a shadow. He realized he had taken a shadowy form as he entered it. He blinked and found they were in a different alley. He looked around, confused.

"The shadows are open ta me," Audrey informed him, seeing his baffled face.

"You are de perfect femme to a t'ief," Philippe commented as they headed towards the nearly deserted street. She glowered at him and he returned with a snicker. "So, why did ya follow dis ol' Cajun?"

"Please," she drawled, putting a hand up, "y'seem ta be the type ta have trouble follow ya around. Didn' wan' any a' yer family cryin' over yer body while I'm here." Philippe offered her a crooked smirk.

"You are one of de most stubborn femmes I've ever met," he commented, walking a little in front of her. He shrugged dramatically. "But don' worry. Dey all come about eventually."

"Oh joy, I'm so elated," Audrey retorted.

"I could make you so much more, chere," he purred suggestively, turning and giving her bedroom eyes. She let out a groan and stormed past him. He smirked a bit and trotted after her. "So, looks like it's just you and me, fille. We should make a night of it, non?"

"Non," Audrey told him. "I'm headin' back ta the house. Takin' care of yer scraggly butt is tirin'." Philippe held an offended look on his face.

"My rump is not scraggly," he said sternly. "Plenty femmes tell me it's firm an' well in place. Wanna see?" Audrey stopped walking and gave him a cold, exasperated glare over her shoulder.

"You jus' don' know when ta quid, do ya?" She asked after a beat.

"S' not in my vocabulary," he replied coyly, walking up beside her.

"I assume when a girl says no, tha's not in yer vocab either," she seethed.

"Mm, mebbe," he replied thoughtfully. "Depends on what dey sayin' no to." He gave her a sly smile. "But not dat many say no to Philippe LeBeau."

"Well, add me ta the lis' tha' say no," Audrey told him firmly. Philippe smirked and took her appearance. She had changed from when he saw her on the stairs. Her light jeans were lose but clung to her hips in a very tomboy flattering manner. Her blue t-shirt, on the other hand, clung to ever curve and she wore a deep purple cord jacket that was slowly slipping off her shoulder due to being too large. Her hair was pulled back into that messy ponytail again.

After the lack of flirtations, Audrey turned and glared at him. He offered a crooked smirk in reply.

"Take a picture," she stated, walking a little in front of him. "Id'll las' longer."

"Y' offerin' to pose for dis Cajun?" Philippe asked, waggling his eyebrows. Audrey turned her upper body slightly to glare at him and placed a hand on her hip. It was hot.

"In yer dreams," she retorted.

"M' sure you'll be in my dreams tanight, chere," he replied calmly, walking past her. He could feel her glaring daggers into his back and couldn't stop the adrenaline rush from it.

"Yer a pervert," she growled and Philippe figured it was his masochist side, but that sounded damn hot. Before he could retort, he felt her pull him into a secluded spot between two buildings.

"Chere! Aren' we movin' fast?!" He teased, getting a swat on the head. Even though he joked, he knew why she had pulled him into the spot.

"Shud up, they're comin'," she muttered, looking out at the street from the shadows.

"Mm, they jus' ruinin' our night," he purred as he moved closer to her to conceal himself.

"Don' get any dirty ideas," Audrey warned him. The fell silent and waited for the group to pass. Jerome looked like he had murder in his eyes which wouldn't be a surprise. When they had passed, Philippe peeked out. He grabbed Audrey's wrist and ran the opposite direction they had gone.

"I t'ink I agree wit' you about callin' it a night," he said, leading her to his motorcycle. "So, how did ya get here?"

"I joined with yer shadow," Audrey said as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Philippe stopped and chuckled, then outright laughed.

"An' how exactly did ya plan on gettin' back to de house?" He inquired. Audrey glowered at him.

"I-I didn' think thad through," she finally admitted. Philippe chuckled and got on the bike.

"Well den, you bettah get on an' hold on tight, chere," he told her. Audrey examined the bike seat like it had the plague but there was something in her face that said she was excited. So, she liked motorcycles? Good. Eventually, she let off a defeated sigh and climbed on after him.

"Don' you _dare_ go fas' an' make me grab ya," she warned. "I could jus' fly. You should be happy I agreed ta this." Before she could continue, Philippe smirked, gunned the engine and did a wheelie, causing Audrey to grab onto him for dear life. He laughed at her squeal as he peeled off into the night.

"I'LL KILL YA CAJUN!" Audrey's yell faded out.


	2. Artifice part 2

**Author Note(s): Ha, I should clarify something. Audrey and Danielle do NOT have parents that are characters in the show. There will be some others like that too. Sorry for not explaining before.**

**I used this hero creator thing to make some of the characters that appear in this chapter. I'll get the links up on my profile ASAP.**

**I don't own X-Men: Evolution.**

Remy stood in the foyer, holding a cup of coffee. Guild business had taken most of the night and it was still demanding his attention. He ruffled his auburn and distinguished (as he said) gray hair, some shaggy parts remaining in his face. He smirked as the door opened, revealing his son. He examined him closer and the smirk grew wider as he saw a bruise just above his eye.

"Now, mon fils, what did ya do dis time?" He joked. Philippe opened his mouth to answer only to get shoved to the side by an angered Audrey. She was muttering things about stupid Cajuns, boar-headed swamp raised perverts, and other things. She then stopped and looked at Remy.

"Um, g'night, Mr. LeBeau," she said, walking past him and up the stairs. Remy looked from her to his son. He did this again and then burst out laughing.

"Why am I not surprised?" He managed to say, looking at the disgruntled look on his son's face.

"Because ev'ryone says I act like you," Philippe said, walking past his father to the kitchen. He opened the freezer and got one of the many ice packs, placing it gingerly on his forehead. Remy followed him and leaned against the frame.

"So, you want t' amuse your ol' man wit a story?" He asked, red eyes amused.

"Pere, my head hurts too much t' start dat," Philippe whined. Remy took a sip of his coffee, his eyes remaining on his son. Philippe matched with a glare but did eventually cave. "I made one too many jokes," he groaned out. "She's a stubborn fille. Attractive but stubborn."

"A deadly combination," Remy said. "But, y' did somet'in else, oui?"

"It wasn' what she t'ought," Philippe said, smirking. "I just, uh, touched her face ta get some information on her. A' course, I made it seem like I was going to kiss her. Mais, dat coulda been it." Remy rolled his eyes, knowing how his son normally ran his charm.

"Tryin' to see what kind of flowers de fille like?" He asked mockingly. Philippe shook his head.

"None a' your business what I was doin'," he stated confidently. "Just age, powers, sister's powers, and small stuff."

"An' ya woulda gotten dat information if you had stayed home, mon fils," Remy laughed, slapping the boy on the back. "Anyway, I gotta get back ta work. You get t' bed, ya hear me boy?"

"Oui, Pere," Philippe said, a cocky smirk on his face as he left the kitchen. Remy shook his head, smiling softly.

"Dat boy more like me dan he knows," he muttered, headed back to the study.

----

Audrey sat in the living room, staring outside at the bright sunlight instead of the book in her hand. She held back a sigh and returned to the book in hand.

"Audrey? Is somet'in wrong?" She heard a girl asked. She looked up and saw the fourteen year old daughter of Remy and Marie. She had her mother's auburn hair in loose curls around her face and her mother's eyes. Her face was curved and gentle. She was still a kid but she had promise for when she was older. Safe to say Remy was rather protective.

"Nothin', Priscilla," Audrey told her. Priscilla examined her calmly then nodded.

"Well, all right but if ya need anyone ta talk to, I'll listen," she said. "D'Accord?"

"Yeah, agreed," Audrey told her. Priscilla offered a warm smile and headed off to the kitchen. Audrey watched after her, wondering how the daughter of a thief could be so open and easy to read. She leaned back, her brows scrunched together. She had met Mercy LeBeau and her son, Gregoire. Actually, Mercy and Danielle were shopping right now. They tried to drag her along but she contented to say no, using the feeble excuse that she had forgotten her sunscreen. She hadn't but she had done it enough times for her sister to believe her and let her be. She looked out the window again, setting the book down. She'd never been in a bayou before. Curiosity killed the cat...

And satisfaction brought it back. She rose quietly, taking her book with her to her room upstairs. As she passed what she assumed was Philippe's room, she heard light snoring. She rolled her eyes and was a little happy that he'd leave her alone for a bit. She entered her room and placed her book down. She bent down and scrounged through her bag.

"Where is thad gahsh fersaken lotion?" She muttered. "Ah-HA!" She pulled out the spf 60 triumphantly, feeling like laughing at herself for behaving in such a manner. She then began to place the lotion on her bare arms and saw someone standing in the door out of her peripheral vision. "Enjoyin' thuh show?" She snarled, giving Philippe a glare. He titled his head, leering at her. He was only in his boxer shorts. This fact rang into her head and she quickly dropped the bottle, blocking her eyes. "Mah virgin eyes! Gehd yer sorry butt outta mah room, LeBeau!" Philippe blinked, confused then began to have a laughing fit.

"I can fix dat virgin eyes bit, chere," he said after regaining his cool. Audrey glowered at him, ignoring his near naked state.

"No thanks," she growled, storming over to him. She tried to shove him out of the room but he refused to budge. He grinned down at her. Audrey's eyes started to glow blue and she took her shadow form. "I s'pose I need this form fer ya, Philippe LeBeau," she snarled, lifting him up and tossing him out of the room, slamming the door. Philippe landed as a heap on the floor. He sat up, smirking and rubbing his head. He looked up to see Priscilla looking at him. She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms.

"Honestly, Phil," she said. "Y' should be smarter dan dat."

"Scilla! Audrey was mean to your fere!" He whined. Priscilla raised an eyebrow.

"Knowing ya, you deserved it," she stated, walking over him to her room.

"I didn' do not'in! Jus' a bit a' harmless flirtin'!" He called after her as she shut her door. Suddenly, the door to Audrey's room opened. She glared down at him indignantly.

"Why are you still here?" She asked, moving to leave. Philippe leaped up, following her.

"Chere, where ya goin'?" He asked.

"I'm gonna go have a looksie around," she said, walking down the stairs.

"Looksie round where?" The Cajun asked, following her.

"None a yer business," she scoffed, opening the front door.

"De crocs could get ya," Philippe informed her.

"Bettah than dealin' with you," Audrey told him.

"Now, dat ain't nice, chere," Philippe said, following her out the door. "Den, dere's de quicksand."

"I'll go shadow an' fly," Audrey said nonchalantly.

"Dieu, you're a difficult woman," Philippe groaned. "Dere's snakes. Lotsa snakes."

"Well, bettah ta be bit by one a' them than deal with you," Audrey informed him, walking off the porch. "An' being difficult, thad's one a my finer points." Philippe smirked, tilting his head to the side.

"Oh? Dat why you nevah been kissed? Eighteen years and not one peck?" He teased. Audrey froze and glared at him.

"I don' even wanna know how **you** know thad," she growled, grabbing his shirt collar. "Thad ain't none a yer business. Jus' like everythin' else." Philippe placed a hand on her wrist.

"Let's go ta town," he suggested, not heeding anything she just said. "We can meet up wit your soeur and Mercy for lunch. Sound good, oui?"

"Non," Audrey said flatly.

"Did I ever mention how I love it when ya speak French?" He inquired teasingly. "It is de language of love."

"An' yer like a giant cheeseball," Audrey informed him, huffing a bit. "Besides, most of the time the French hide behind the Americans. So I s'pose id's the language a' runaways." Philippe put a hand over his heart, gasping dramatically.

"Chere! Y' wound dis Cajun!" He exclaimed.

"Good," Audrey replied.

"Mais? We go into de city and meet de ot'er two? I told dem dat we would," Philippe informed her with a smug look. Audrey's face fell as she half-glared, half-gaped at him.

"One condition," she told him. He tilted his head to the side, his smug look remaining on his face. "Someone else is in the _car_ with us. Yeah, thad's righ. _CAR._"

"But chere, I know very well dat you like motorcycles," Philippe stated matter of factually.

"No' when yer using id as an excuse fer me to be pressed against ya," Audrey told him. Philippe gave a small puppy dog pout which did not cause Audrey's glare to falter. Philippe finally let out an exaggerated sigh of defeat. He was slowly scheming other plots though.

"D'accord," he said. "Priscilla?"

"Nope," Audrey said, shaking her head. "She's gettin' ready fer something ta do with the guild."

"Dat's true," Philippe agreed, thinking. "Gregoire?"

"He's helpin' Priscilla," Audrey commented. "If you had woken up earlier, then ya'd know all this." Philippe smiled sheepishly and automatically made Audrey think of a wolf in sheep's clothing. "I do beleave Wilhelm is available." Philippe bit back a groan. He was definitely going to put a damper on Philippe's idea. He then smirked, titling his head. "Wha'?"

"I jus' t'ink is so cute how you say 'I do believe,'" he teased. Audrey glowered at him.

"Le's go, Cajun," she said, walking past him. "Oh. An' gehd some clothes on."

"Hm, I was sure chere liked me without clothes," he commented, looking like he was truly thinking. Audrey rolled her eyes and stormed back into the house, Cajun smirking and following after.

----

Unfortunately, that day was not going to be as simple and relaxed as once thought. The three in the car drove into New Orleans to see people running. Philippe slammed on his breaks, avoiding hitting another car. All three leaped out.

"Excusez moi, but what is going on?" Philippe asked someone.

"Some mutants are attacking the city!" The man exclaimed, hurrying past him once he realized he was a mutant. Audrey and Wilhelm looked at each other. Suddenly, Audrey stood in her shadow form while Wilhelm had gone blue and fuzzy.

"Audrey, fly up and zee where zhe trouble iz," Wilhelm ordered. Audrey nodded and flew into the air, scanning the city.

"I see them!" She called down. "Straight that way about ten blocks! Looks like it's Landslide an' his cronies. I though' they were still up north!"

"Obviouzly zhey know zhat we have it," Wilhelm muttered. Philippe looked at him, confused. "Ve brought somet'in for your fazher to take care of. Who better zhan a zhief?" Before Philippe could reply, Wilhelm grabbed his arm and teleported to where the fight was going on.

"Landslide!" Audrey yelled, picking up speed and slamming her foot into the armored man's face. She flipped back and landed on her feet. Landing beside her was a girl in a light form who was shorter than Audrey. Philippe knew that was Danielle from the information he took from Audrey.

"Well, if isn't de X-Men," the man said with a Greek accent. "So, tell me. Wherrre is de formula?"

"No where that yer gonna find it," Audrey growled. Philippe took in the man, examining the dark blue and red armor. He wore a helmet that concealed his identity and seemed to be Greek, having the olive skin. His eyes slowly moved over to the others in the group. A dark skinned girl with black dreds and green eyes. She wore a black leather outfit and from files he had read, she was Frenzy (1). an Asian looking woman with her black hair pulled up into a bun. Her outfit looked like it was armor but showed some skin and had a green cape. Astra, from his knowledge (2). Another young man with black hair who wore jeans and a black t-shirt that had something that looked like molecules. This was Arthur Madrox, son of Multiple, a former X-Man. He goes by Multiply. Then, a man with crazy light brown hair and wild green eyes, who wore a crazed smirk who needed to shave his stubble and goatee off. He wore jeans, a red t-shirt with a blue A on it and a jean jacket. This was Animan.

Behind his back, Philippe held five charged cards. A heart's royal flush, to be more precise. He watched as Audrey took on Frenzy but knew that wouldn't work. Wilhelm was taking on Astra through a flurry of blasted energy and teleportation. Danielle was in the air, firing light beams at Multiply, Landslide, and Animan. Luckily, no one had taken notice of the Cajun. Waiting in the shadows for the opportune moment, he released the royal flush, causing confusion to run through the enemy group. Audrey took advantage of the distraction and slammed her knee into Frenzy's face, sending the girl flying back.

"We need Talon ta deal with Frenzy," Audrey muttered.

"I t'ink you're doin' a fine job, chere," Philippe said as Multiply multiplied and the ten Multiplies charged him. Audrey was about to retort when she was tackled by Animan, who had taken the weight of an elephant.

"Lose...Some...WEIGHT!" Audrey gasped, kicking him off of her. She sunk into the shadows and appeared behind him, giving him a firm chop down to the earth. She spun just in time to see Frenzy jumping at her.

Danielle glowered down at Landslide, taking higher to the air and aiming another beam of light. He blocked it but was slowly being pushed back and eventually lost his balance. Danielle flew down at his fallen form, managing to dent the helmet from how hard the punch had been. Not even to hurt him, just knock him out though.

Wilhelm avoided a blast from Astra, flipping backwards and teleporting behind her. He grabbed her arms, making her not capable of using them.

"Light! A little help?!" He asked Danielle.

"On it, Nightrunner," Danielle called up, flying towards the pair and giving a knock-out punch.

Philippe smirked, thoroughly pleased. He had managed to knock out the main Multiply, and now watched as Audrey finished up the fight by swinging Frenzy by the legs into a practically demolished wall (thanks to Landslide) and burying her. Audrey looked over to Philippe.

"She'll be fine, jus' oud for a bi'," she commented. Sirens sounded and Philippe's natural thief instincts told him to run. Audrey and Danielle exchanged looks. Audrey flew over to Philippe, lifting him up. "We're oudda here, Cajun," she told him, flying into a shadow.

----

The Brotherhood had been apprehended by the authorities and Philippe wished that he had not missed the night before. He eventually found out his father was hiding a formula for a mutant "cure" until it was figured out what to do with it. Where better to hide something than with thieves? Philippe walked past Audrey's room, headed to check on Priscilla but paused, hearing Audrey on the phone.

"Azari, stop bein' bossy," he heard her say. "Fine. I'll get righ' on id. Bye, Azari." Philippe moved quickly as Audrey opened the door. "Cajun. I know yer ta my left." Philippe smirked and walked over to her.

"Somet'in wrong, chere?" He asked coyly. Audrey grabbed his collar and glared at him.

"Say you don' wanna join the X-Men," she ordered.

"Hm, how can I refuse dat offer?" Philippe asked, eyes grazing over her body, just to peeve her off more. "Oui, I will join de X-Men."

"I hate you, Cajun," Audrey growled, shoving him back and storming in her room, slamming the door.

Philippe smirked, tilting his head to the side. Going up to New York, being part of a goodie-goodie run around save the day team, and mess around with Shade. Sounded like fun.

**Author Note(s) cont.:**

**Actually a comic book character. An acolyte.**

**Another actual comic character. Member of the brotherhood.**


	3. Aussie Fire

**Author Note(s): I should be working on my costume. I really should. I just enjoy writing these characters so much.**

**Any pairing ideas, tell me. I'm open to suggestions from the readers.**

**I don't own X-Men: Evolution.**

Sitting around the Institute after a Danger Room session, Philippe mulled over the occupants he had met.

The first he knew from a few encounters. As soon as he stepped off of the plane, he smirked at the growl.

"Well, Jame Kinney," he said, walking over to the tanned, spiky, dark brown haired boy. He was shorter and broader than Philippe and his ice blue eyes glowered at him. He crossed his broad arms over his dark blue t-shirt.

"I was hoping you'd say no, Cajun," he commented.

"So was I," Audrey stated dejectedly.

"This guy give you any trouble, Audrey, just come tell me," he said. "Cousins keep each other in place. Mom's out by the car. Hates all the crowds."

"Charmin' as ever, mon cousin," Philippe said dryly, lifting up his bags and some of Audrey's- much to her protest as she pulled them out of his hands. Something about how he would probably go through her underwear or something. He smirked inwardly. He had done that at home. James sniffed the air and glowered at Philippe. Obviously, he was giving off some kind of scent. The tension in the air was disrupted by Danielle coming over and giving James a hug. Of course, James was not a touchy type of person, so he immediately stiffed from the brief contact. Danielle pulled back.

"It's great to see you, James," she said. "Can't wait to see ev'ryone else too." Wilhelm came up then, carrying Danielle's bags that she had dropped to greet the wolfish man.

"Well, let's get back to the mansion," he said. "Gramps is gettin' ansty."

"D'accord, can't let Gramps Logan get ansty," Philippe agreed. The group followed James out the parking lot where a woman who looked a little young to be James' mother waited. Same as ever. Tanned skin, long brown hair, mint green eyes, and long, lean body. Of course, she wore a scowl. Philippe chuckled slightly. Typical Aunt Laura.

"Bonjour, Tante Laura," he greeted warmly.

"Y'know very well your charms do not work on me, Philippe," Laura warned him, turning to the x-van and opening the trunk. Philippe's amused look remained on his face as he lifted his luggage into the back. He didn't pack much, his mother saying that she would send the rest of his stuff because of 'thaht dern security thaht don' know whaht they're doin'.' He was going to miss that persistent woman. Audrey moved to put her bags in and Philippe was about to tease her by moving closer, only to hear a growl from his cousin. He looked over and saw a protective eyebrow raised on his face. Great. He had to deal with Wilhelm _and_ James being protective of Audrey. James was scarier than Wilhelm though.

Maybe he could go to a bar later...Gramps Logan was normally all right with that.

----

Rachel Summers had just completed her DR session. She had stayed later than the others and hey, she had a huge name to live up to. Being the daughter of Scott Summers and Jean Grey. She shook out her wet, short red hair, wrapping the towel securely around her body as she stepped out of the shower.

Yeah, she was the kid of those two but that didn't mean she couldn't be badass. She did everything right but took advantage of having a bit of fun. She walked into the locker room to see Audrey finishing up and getting ready to leave.

"So, Audrey," she started, walking over to the blonde girl. Audrey's response was looking at her and tilting her head to the side questioningly. "What's the new guy like?" Audrey's questioning look turned sour quick. She tugged on her shoelaces rather tightly and Rachel was sure that she lost some circulation from the act.

"Rach, I like ya," she told her calmly. "Don' even think 'boud id. Thad boy ain't nothin' bu' a **pervert** of a _flirt_."

"Sounds fun," Rachel commented. Audrey scoffed.

"Look, I'm no' stupid," she stated. "I know yer tryin' ta punish yer dad fer being with thad Frost chick so soon after yer mom died. Id ain' gonna do a thing cept hurt you. I'll look out fer ya though. Cause I don' wan' ya ta screw yerself over."

"Yeah, your concern is touching, country girl," Rachel waved it off.

"I'm serious, Rach," Audrey said. "If ya need ta talk-" Before the thought could be finished, Rachel moved to her locker and pulled it open harshly. Audrey knew that was a sign of the conversation being over. Audrey obliged, returning to closing her locker.

"Look, Audrey," Rachel said as the blonde moved to leave. "I know you're trying to help but please, don't." Audrey looked at her for a moment then gave a slow nod.

"I'm sure ya can meed Philippe now," Audrey told her. "Gehd him offa my hands, please."

"Wait, what?" Rachel asked, her interested eyebrow perking up with a lopsided smirk. She continued to get dressed but mentally sent Audrey a demand for more information.

"Fine jus' gehd oudda my head," Audrey groaned. "Thad boy has been flirtin' with me since he first saw me. I'm sure if someone more willin' ta play his game crossed his path, he'd back off."

"I'm willing, he's pretty hot," Rachel jested but felt rather intrigued. "Did he flirt with Danielle?"

"Ad first, yeah," Audrey said, sitting on one of the benches as Rachel continued to get ready, pulling on her red, low cut t-shirt and her maroon low cut jeans that clung to her. "But then, turned oud he jus' did id ta flird with me." Pulling on her nearly black boots (which were red), her green eyes glimmered.

"Sweet, innocent Audrey has a guy dogging after her?" Rachel teased.

"Okay, first, I ain' thad sweed," Audrey growled, crossing her arms.

"Oh, that's why you were offering to play shrink to me," Rachel jutted back. Audrey narrowed her eyes even more. Rachel snickered and looked at the clock. "Well, it's nearing dinner time. D'ya think this outfit is fine to meet a LeBeau in?"

"Dear, I think you could wear sweats an' he would be excited 'boud meetin' a willin' chick," Audrey retorted.

"Whatever, country bumpkin," Rachel teased lightly, walking over and putting an arm around the other girl's shoulder. The two walked out and much to Rachel's pleasure and Audrey's annoyance, Philippe was waiting.

"Whad are ya doin' here, Cajun?" Audrey asked, crossing her arms and turning her head defiantly.

"I was bored," he answered in a flat tone but a smirk was laced on his face. Audrey turned to glower at him.

"Hey, we met in the DR," Rachel interrupted. "Of course, I only know you as Artifice and you know me as Marvel Girl. So, I'm Rachel Summers."

"I knew who ya were, fille," Philippe said with a slight warm tone in his voice. "Y' were too young ta remember when you an' your mere came down ta stay wit' Mama an' Pere. I t'ink you was only two at de time. I was five." Rachel scrunched up her face in thought and Audrey thought to make her escape, touching a shadow and taking her form, disappearing. Philippe held back his annoyed face. How could he find a girl who could merge with shadows?

"Yeah, nothing's ringing a bell," Rachel said. "Haven't done much since Dad got with Ice Queen." Rachel took the opportunity to attempt to invade his mind, finding any thoughts that would be interesting. She should have known he'd been train in mental blocks. She scowled and Philippe grinned, knowing exactly what she had been trying to do. "So, you wanna head to the dinner?"

"Wit such a belle femme, oui," Philippe flattered. Rachel smirked inwardly. Hey, at least she'd be able to flirt with him.

----

Danielle backed up from the stove, her face contorted in defeat.

"That's not s'pose to look like that," she finally said. Cooking, as Audrey frequently reminded her, was never her forte.

"Vhat iz zhat smell?" Wilhelm asked, entering the kitchen. Dinner was in a few minutes and he wondered what smelled horribly. He winced as he saw Danielle in front the of the stove. "Oh." Suddenly, the strange concoction started to bubble. "Look out!" He yelled, teleporting beside Danielle, grabbing her, and teleporting away as the pot exploded. "I don't know how you do zhat."

"Because Audrey got all the cookin' genes," Danielle stated, defeated. "I just wanted to make a dish for dinner. Just one. Oh well. I'll live with it."

"Zhat's zhe spirit, Danielle!" Wilhelm told her, patting her on the back. "Don't vorry! You'll eventually be able to cook as vell as Audrey!"

"Hey, I'm fine with it, really," Danielle said. "My acro's better than hers anyway." Wilhelm held back the urge to roll his eyes. Sibling rivalry. It had toned down over the years at least. It was kind of annoying having them try to better each other at every single thing.

"Ja, zhat it iz," he agreed. "But, let'z get zhis cleaned up, ja?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Danielle sighed and the two made quick work of fixing the mess. James entered just as they finished.

"Hey, we're waitin' on you two," he said gruffly. He turned to look at Danielle for a second longer than usual and said "Who let you in the kitchen?" To this, he got a dirty rag thrown in his face.

"Not appreciated, James," Danielle said, walking past him. James growled and took the rag off of his face. Wilhelm laughed slightly, pointing.

"Ganz Gross," he joked, teleporting away as James leaped at him.

----

Audrey stepped out of a shadow in the dining room, looking for Danielle. She smiled, seeing her sister come out of the dining room. She deshadowed and the two sat together, Wilhelm teleporting to the open seat beside Danielle. Both sisters glared at him and he gave a nervous smile. Not his fault his power caused an after smell of sulfur and brimstone.

An African American young man walked in. He had bright amber eyes and strong, royal like features. His black hair was short and kept. He wore a black t-shirt and jeans. Along his arms were gray-brown tattoos-tattoos that would light up when he used his mutation.

"May I sit here?" He inquired of Audrey. "Or is Rachel going to be sitting beside you?"

"Be my guest, Azari," Audrey told him. Azari nodded and took the seat. Rachel and Philippe entered with James, who had to clean his face off. Philippe moved to take the seat across from Audrey but Rachel, oblivious, made the move. James chose to sit across from Danielle, so the Cajun wouldn't get any funny ideas. Defeated, Philippe took a seat across from Azari, the second guy he met when he came to Bayville.

Azari was the natural leader of the X-Men and Xavier's pet panther. The guy was built like a big cat. Lean muscles, tall, and somewhat of an intimidating posture. No wonder seeing who is parents were, Storm and an African King who pranced around as a Black Panther of sorts.

Speaking of Xavier, the old man entered with Gramps Logan walking behind him and Aunt Laura, almost like two body guards.

"My apologies but a mission has risen," he stated. "It will not require all of you. Just Rachel, Azari, and James. You four can remain and rest from your trip from New Orleans. Logan shall be going along with you three." Rachel, Azari, and James nodded, rising and leaving the room with Logan. Philippe moved to change seats but got a swift kick in the shin. He glanced at Audrey, knowing she had been the assailant by the all too innocent look on her face.

----

"What's the mission, Logan?" Rachel asked as they entered the blackbird, all in uniform.

Wolverine's was back to the good old blue and yellow. Never fail something that doesn't fail you, after all.

Azari's (Panther Strike's) uniform was black. He had insisted on it. The top was sleeveless and he wore gloves that went up to his elbows. He had metal plates on his wrists and a metallic belt. Seperating his black boots and pants were metallic knee pads.

James' (Wolf's) outfit was similar to an older one of Logan's. It was still blue and yellow but the main color was blue. He had a golden X across his chest and three yellow scratches on either shoulder. He had a black belt that had pouches to carry miscellaneous items he may need. Black fingerless gloves and black, armored boots finished off his look.

Rachel (Marvel Girl's) outfit was a little bit more complicated. She wore a black shirt that showed her mid-drift. A red triangle went down from her neck and a yellow diamond was in between her breasts. She had a metallic belt on that had a red box with an X in the center. He black pants met a yellow line before the red boots. Her gloves were fingerless and yellow with a red strip at her elbows.

"Simple," Logan said gruffly to the kids. "We're going to get a friend's kid. From Australia." He sat down in the pilot's seat and the kids took their seats. "Seems St. John and Wanda are having a little issue and want their kid out of the outback and with us."

"Y'mean Magda Allerdyce?" Rachel asked. "She's finally joining?"

"More like being put in our custody," Logan stated.

"She's a little, out there," James said. "Morbidly insane?"

"C'mon now, guys, let's not be so," Azari started but stopped as he saw the looks he was getting. "Let's try to be accepting and nice."

----

The flight took a while. They finally landed in the outback, at the meeting point Wanda had given. Standing there waiting was a girl with black, curly hair with bright orange roots. This, was of course, completely natural. Her blue eyes watched the plane with little interest. Her skin was a sun-kissed tan. She wore a lot of blues and blacks, contrasting with her hair. Her shirt was blue but was a little short and her leather jacket was rolled up. She wore black khapris and black combat boots. The door to the plane opened and she looked at the group indigently.

"Took y' blokes long enough," she commented, getting her bags and entering the plane. "My Dad's gone and started a fire. Again. And the cops are lookin' for him. Mom thought you could help. Maybe, use some psychic blast and knock him out. Oy tried to control the fire but Dad's just stubborn." Logan sniffed the air, finding the smoke.

"All right. He's not too far from here. Crazy St. John."

"Crazy? That's an understatement," Azari stated. He felt the glare from Magda and winced slightly. Rachel rolled her eyes and took to the air.

"I'll take care of it," she told them.

"Count me in, Red," James stated, following her on the ground.

"Now, hold on, we should plan something-" Azari started but knew his words fell on deaf ears. He gave a defeated sigh. Some prince he was. "All right. We'll need Magda to get calm the flames after Pyro's knocked out."

"What if Oy don't want to?" Magda asked with a deadpan face. Azari slapped hie forehead and Logan couldn't help but smirk. Kids.

"Please, Magda?" Azari semi-whined.

"Well, since you asked so nicely," the girl replied, deadpan but anyone could tell it was sarcastic.

----

James stopped at a outcropping of rock, examining the fire below. Rachel floated a foot above him, looking just as he was. Except, in her own way. Which was a psychic scan. James sniffed, ready to jump. Both waited for the other to say something and the competition made the air tense. Suddenly, both took off in the same direction. James had an edge of super speed but Rachel outsmarted him, telekenetically lifting him up, smirking at his scowl.

"Gotta play fair," she teased lightly.

"Says the one making me float," James replied gruffly. Rachel laughed but the laugh faded as she avoided a strike from a fire dragon. She released James and he landed on his feet.

"Mr. Allerdyce! It's me, Rachel!" Rachel called to the laughing manically man. He ignored her as he continued to "play" with the fire. Rachel scowled slightly and sent a psychic blast at St. John. It didn't effect him. Rachel avoided another strike, examining the man. He was wearing a tattered white shirt and dusty jeans and boots. He was tanned form years in the outback and his blonde-orange hair was still as uncontrollable as ever. He was face was etched with lines and then, Rachel saw it. A headband made to block out telepaths like her. There was also the possibility of it controlling his mind.

"Hey James!" Rachel called down to him. "Our good friend Pyro has a horrid headband on. Wanna get it off of him?!" James looked at her, a little confused but then figured it out.

"Sure," he growled, running towards Pyro, avoiding the strikes and tackling the man. Rachel winced.

"Um, remember, James, he's not indestructible!" Rachel called over. Suddenly, an eruption of fire sent James flying into the air. Rachel watched him, surprised as he fell to the ground ans swore. Loudly. "You okay?!"

"Would have been nice if **someone** had broken my fall!" James snarled back. Rachel smirked at James, who's top was slightly charred but he was perfectly fine.

"You have your mother's healing power and all that," she teased lightly, avoiding a fire blast.

"Still woulda been nice," James growled lightly.

"Stop whining and nab that headband, Wolf!" Rachel ordered. "We need to get it to Forge and Hank to examine!"

"Right, I figured that," James muttered, getting up and headed towards the fire controller. "All right, bub, I'm done bein' nice." James snarled and leaped at St. John again, effectively taking him down and slamming a fist into his face, knocking the poor bloke out cold.

"Unnecessary, James!" Rachel snorted, landing beside them.

"Well, I didn't see _you_ knocking him out," James snarled back, removing the headband. The fire around them started to fade and they turned to see Azari, Magda, and Logan standing there, looking at the three.

"How hard did ya hit him, mate?" Magda asked, deadpan.

"Hard enough," James replied gruffly.

"Probably deserved it," Magda said. "But, get offa my dad." Suddenly, a pillar of fire flew at James, throwing him off of the knocked out Aussie. "Thank you." St. John groaned and sat up, rubbing his head.

"Crikey, what the hell just happened?" He asked, rubbing his jaw. "Feel like Oy got hit by a truck."

"Close enough," Rachel said, offering him a hand up. "It was James."

"Where's Mum?" Magda asked.

"Oy don't rightly remember, luv," St. John said, deep in thought. "All Oy remember is someone sneakin' up on me and puttin' that blasted thing on me." He pointed to the headband. James was already examining it curiously. Logan snatched it out of his grandson's hand, placing it in a pocket on his belt.

"We'll get on it, Pyro," Wolverine snarled slightly. "Kids, let's go. St. John, I'm leavin' you here. Never liked you."

"Aw, c'mon, Wolvie! Y'know y'luv me!" St. John lightly teased. He received a glare. "Rohght rohght. Oy'll stay in case someone tries again. Oy know the drill, mate." St. John smirked slightly and moved to his daughter. "Now, y'lissen here, kiddo. You be a good X-Man, follow the rules, and try not ta set anything on foire."

"Oy'm gonna tell ya the same, Dad," Magda told him with a perfectly straight face. St. John immediately keeled over laughing, slapping his daughter on the back.

"That's my lil' sheila!" He stated, a wide, stupid grin on his face. Azari gave a worried look at James, who gave him a gruff look in reply.

----

Returning to the mansion, one question rang through Rachel's mind. She scoured the halls until finding the one person who could answer the question. Audrey was in the library, catching up on some reading.

"So, is Philippe dead yet?" Rachel asked. Audrey looked up from her book with a blank face. She then returned to her reading and replied

"Laura's making him do extra training sessions."


	4. Trouble in Paradise part 1

**Author Note(s): Hello. Currently, there is a poll on my profile regarding who should get with who. With every chapter, the pairings with the least amount of votes will be deleted. This will continue until we reach the final four. There will be no double pairings, but I will take into account these thoughts and make love triangles. Okay. Yeah. Go vote.**

**I do not own X-Men: Evolution.**

A nice sunny day was the condition of Bayville that summer day. Everyone was out enjoying except for one person. Audrey Rasputin. She stood by the window, watching everyone else play basketball. She placed her hands on her sleeved arms, pulling her purple jacket closer to her body. She reached for the curtain to close it when a certain Cajun took notice. The brash man that he was, he was playing the game without a shirt on and torn, old jean shorts. He winked at her and she glowered, thrusting the curtains shut. She turned to head back up to her and her sister's room when the door opened.

"Chere? Why don' you join us?" Philippe asked. Audrey rolled her eyes, tucking the strand of hair that was always in her face behind her ear.

"Cause, Philippe, I fergot ta get sunscreen," Audrey told him. "I'm fresh oud. Sides, ya'll are gonna be oud fer a while. I can'd be oud thad long." Philippe chuckled and moved closer, catching her arm as she moved to go up the stairs. She reacted quickly, grabbing his arm and swinging him against a wall. He rubbed his head and smirked at her.

"Didn' know ya liked it rough, cherie," he teased lightly.

"Yer impossible," Audrey growled, walking past him.

"What's wrong wit' comin' out wit'out sunscreen?" Philippe asked, following her. Audrey rolled her eyes again, that stubborn bunch of hair falling in her face again.

"Cause Cajun, I'm shadow," she said. "Sun bad fer me. Did id gehd in yer mind ye'?"

"I'll go buy ya some, chere," Philippe told her sincerely. "Y'like bein' outside." Audrey paused and looked at him questioningly. She rubbed her covered arm, unsure.

"I was gonna waid fer an overcas' day," she muttered. Philippe shook his head, tilting her head up so she was looking him in the eye.

"Chere, y' jus gonna torture yourself if ya do dat," he said. He watched her blush lightly and turn away from him. He smirked, recognizing right away she was putting her walls up.

"Can it, Cajun Casanova," she growled out. "Ya prob'ly gahd somethin' planned oud." Before Philippe could retort, Xavier contacted them.

_Philippe, Audrey, Rachel, and James. Please come to my office._ Audrey groaned, exasperated. The two made their way to the office, finding Rachel and James there.

"Tell meh you two didn' race," Audrey sighed sarcastically to Rachel and James. She was met with a glare form James and an annoyed look from Rachel. "Wassup, Prof?"

"Forge and Dr. McCoy examined the headband that Rachel and James found," Xavier started. "We have been able to trace the signal to Hawaii."

"Waid, if id was traceable," Audrey started.

"Denn why was it so sophisticated?" Philippe finished, receiving a glower form Audrey.

"Almost like whoever made it wanted to be tracked," Rachel suggested.

"Precisely," Xavier told them. "Logan and Laura are off on another mission. I decided to send you four due to the fact that Philippe and Audrey are best for espionage while you and James are my two strongest members behind Logan and Laura."

"When we leavin'?" James gruffed out.

"Within the next two hours," Xavier informed them. "I suggest you get packed for roughly a week. The signal came from a hotel. You four will be playing newly weds in order to get to the honeymoon suites, which are closer to the point of the signal than the other rooms."

"So, uh, who's married to whom?" Rachel inquired. Xavier gave a slight smile.

"I matched you by abilities that I stated earlier," he informed the group.

"I'm nod married ta the Cajun," Audrey said in shock. Philippe smirked slightly, leaning back in an amused manner.

"Yes, the two of you are Mr. and Mrs. Moreaux," Xavier told her. "You met Mr. Philippe Moreaux while studying abroad in France and it was a quick ceremony, as your best friend, Rachel, met a man in the states. Mr. James Richards and the two of you wanted to have a duel wedding in New York."

"I hate citehs," Audrey glowered.

"And a duel honeymoon in Hawaii," Xavier finished. The girls glared at the boys. James glared back while Philippe gave Audrey a flirty smirk. "Now, I suggest you go get packed." The group rose and headed out of the office.

"Chere, I'll go buy you your sunscreen," Philippe said to Audrey, placing a hand on her shoulder. "What kind d'ya need?"

"Well, id's gonna be Hawaii," Audrey said, removing his hand from her shoulder. "Prob'ly gonna need Soleo Atlantis Organics all Natural Sunscreen SPF 60. Prob'ly gonna need two. Thad'll cost ya round fordy bucks. I'll go gehd the money and where ya can buy id."

"I'll pay for it, chere," Philippe said. "It can be make-up for all de times ya turn me down."

"Oh no," Audrey said, waving a finger at him. "Yer usin' _mah_ money. Ya hear meh?!" He was already walking to the garage.

"Let the guy pay, Audrey," Rachel said, putting an arm around the other girl's shoulder. "He's only being a good 'husband.' Unlike James over here."

"Wanna switch?" Audrey growled. James scoffed, crossing his arms.

"If you ask me, yer all just being a bunch of whiners," he said. "Even if I don't like it, we gotta act like a pair of happily married couples. I think I'm gonna be sick."

"You're getting the couch in the suite," Rachel told him harshly.

----

The four walked off of the plane, acting how they were suppose to. Well, Philippe was relatively pleased with the friendly and flirty Audrey. He was the only one who wasn't acting. He looked over at Rachel and James and had to bite back a laugh at James' outwardly happy face but Philippe knew better. He was dying inside. He coughed, covering up the choked laugh.

"Hon, y'okay?" He heard Audrey ask in a honey sweet voice. Oh yes. He was going to like this mission.

"Oui, ma chere," he told her with a slight purr in his voice. He could tell that she was holding back her usual rolling of the eyes. Unfortunately, the only open display of affection he was allowed was some cuddly and holding hands. She refused kissing. They had discussed it (well, she had ordered) when he brought her sunscreen to her room before they left. "Mus' be dese leis." He motioned to the flowered necklace. He then reached for hers and played with the brightly colored flowers. "Alt'ough, dey look real nice on you." This time, she did roll her eyes. Before he could blink, he was out of breath from a lightning fast punch in the gut. No one understood why he was grabbing his stomach, trying to catch some air.

"Hm, I s'pose I should take those darn things off, hm, darlin'?" Audrey said with an all too innocent face, removing his lei. James and Rachel raised their eyebrows at each other. James smirked and crossed his arms, looking at the other man.

"Done in by a lei," he jested. "Perfect for a tombstone for **you**." Philippe glowered, understanding the pun in the statement. Rachel walked over to Audrey and laced her arm with hers.

"Let's go to the beach when we have everything settled into the hotel," she suggested. Philippe perked up at this.

"Sure, I brought my one piece," Audrey stated. Philippe slightly deflated. Still...Audrey in a bathing suit...

"What?! A one piece?! Girl, we're going to get you something a little more...Scandalous," Rachel said, smirking a bit. She watched Audrey's face turn bright red and Philippe almost break out into a wide grin.

"Y'know very well thad I won' wear id," Audrey scoffed, crossing her arms.

"I'll just give your sister a call to convince you," Rachel stated, pulling out her phone.

"Don' bother," Audrey told her. "Danielle's back home, givin' Kitty a hand with Mikhail's birthday."

"Oh? How old is he now?" Rachel asked.

"Three," Audrey informed her.

"Stop yammerin' and let's go," James grumbled, walking off.

"I think he needs ta get laid, Rachel," Audrey teased lightly.

"Moi aussi, chere," Philippe said, putting an arm around Audrey. "I t'ink you're perfect for helpin' wit' dat."

"I jus' walked inta thad one, didn' I?" Audrey asked, exasperated.

"Oui."

----

Azari sat in the rec room, looking bored as he flipped through the channels. He huffed out a breath, clicking the TV off and tossing the controller on the coffee table.

"Somethin' wrong, mate?" Magda said, entering the room.

"Everyone's off somewhere," Azari muttered, crossing his arms. "I mean, Phil, James, Rachel, and Audrey are in Hawaii on a mission. Danielle went back to Ohio for her brother's birthday. Logan and Laura are off somewhere. Xavier, Hank, and Forge had something in Washington. It's just you, me, and Herr Blau Peltzartig." Azari groaned and put his hands behind his head. "I've done the limit of training sessions for a day, I've worked out in the gym, I went for a walk, and now, there's nothing on TV."

"Speakin' of Will, where is that bloke?" Magda inquired.

"No clue," Azari said with a shrug.

"They left a fire maker and a lightnin' maker alone in the house?" Magda inquired.

"Seems so," Azari muttered, looking out the window.

"Crikey, they're just askin' fer hell, hm?" Magda inquired. Azari stiffened and turned to look at her.

"What are you planning?" He asked suspiciously. Magda kept her deadpan features but her eyes glimmered mischievously.

----

The four on the mission had managed to settle into their honeymoon suites, which were right beside each other. Audrey stood at the glass sliding door to the balcony, looking over the view of the tropical ocean and the city street below. She held a solemn look on her face, contemplating the scenery. She absentmindedly tugged on her long sleeves. Philippe examined her, a worried look slightly etched on his face.

"Chere?" He started but was abruptly interrupted by Rachel entering the room.

"Beach time, my friend!" Rachel said, coming over to Audrey and throwing her arms around the other girl. "Let's see this one piece of yours!"

"I dunno, id's really brigh' oud taday," Audrey stuttered out. "The sunscreen will be a pain. I'll be puttin' it on ev'ry half hour with how the sun's shinin'..." Philippe tilted his head, smirking.

"No worries, mon fille," he said, swaggering over to the two. "I'd be happy to put it on your back." Audrey glowered at him.

"A' course you would," she sneered.

"Stop arguing and let's go," James said, entering the room. "We gotta play happy, friend couples." He and Rachel glared at each other. Philippe smirked slightly.

"Y'know, I wonder which une a' you two can be more convincin'," he started, looking between Rachel and James. He rubbed his chin, considering it. "Audrey, d'you got an idea?"

"No," Audrey scowled but then considered what he was doing. "Although, I do beleave my money would be on Rachel. If I made beds."

"Chere, bet you'd make a bed real nice," Philippe taunted.

"Leave my accen' alone, Cajun," Audrey growled. Philippe chuckled slightly, amused. Rachel smirked, standing a bit taller and James glowered darkly at her.

"What? You don't think I can be like Romeo here?" He asked, jutting his thumb at Philippe.

"Oh, non, mon ami," Philippe stated. "My money, well, it'd be on you." James and Rachel glared at each other and the other two in the room knew the competition was on. Philippe smirked at Audrey and she merely rolled her eyes.

"Shall we get changed, mon cherie?" Philippe purred to Audrey.

"I'm firs', yer second," Audrey growled out, pulling out her one piece and entering the bathroom, shutting the door. Philippe stared at the door, head tilted to the side.

"Love sick puppy," Rachel said, pulling Philippe from his thoughts.

"Excusez moi?" He asked.

"That's what you look like," Rachel stated. Now it was Philippe's turn to glower.

"So, de deux of you ready?" He asked. Rachel nodded and Philippe knew she had something barely covering her under her clothing. James gave a gruff nod and Philippe took in his apparel. White t-shirt and dark blue swim trunks. Flip flops. Philippe gave a lop-sided smirk.

"What?" James snapped.

"Ne'er t'ought of you as a flip flop guy, dat's all," the Cajun jested lightly. Before James could reply, Audrey came out. Philippe turned and was slightly disappointed that she hadn't walked out in just her suit. She was still wearing her jeans and long sleeved shirt.

"I pud my sunscreen on in the bathroom," she said, confusing his expression. "Yer turn." Philippe grabbed his swim trunks and entered the bathroom. He changed and came out quickly, giving hardly anytime for conversation (which had been Rachel demanding to see Audrey's suit and being refused). Of course, he came out in only his trunks and his clothing under his arms. Audrey glowered slightly.

"Exhibitionis'," she stated plainly.

"I'd be more dan willin' ta show you more, belle," Philippe replied coyly.

"Gehd a shirt on an' le's go," Audrey ordered, throwing him a white wife beater. He smirked, putting it on and it clung to his form. He quickly put on his own flip flops and followed after Audrey, Rachel and James behind them. As soon as they were in a public place, Audrey and Philippe nearly blanched at how the other two were acting. Oh yes. Lovely competition.

----

"Magda? I'm not sure if this is a good idea," Azari commented, glancing around the kitchen.

"What? Too scared to do it?" Magda inquired jestingly. "C'mon, we're just seein' what explodes in a microwave."

"What if it breaks?" Azari asked.

"Then I will blame you," Magda said with a deadpan expression. Azari threw his hands up in defeat.

"You're impossible," he sighed.

"First off, let's do an egg!" Magda stated, placing the innocent egg into the microwave.

----

The beach was crowded. Audrey scoffed and crossed her arms.

"Definitely ain' like the commercials," she muttered. Philippe put an arm around her, smiling a joking smile.

"Don' worry, chere," he said. "We'll make de best of it, non?" He could tell she was holding back a retort.

"A' course, hon," Audrey said in such a sweet tone, he could tell it was making her sick.

"Do you guys see an open spot?" Rachel asked as she shielded her eyes and examined the beach. Audrey and Philippe were both wearing sunglasses so were pleased they did not have to do the lame hand blocking.

"I'll just make one," James growled, marching onto the beach and scaring off some people. Rachel looked at the other two and shrugged.

"I guess my darling found a spot," she cooed. Audrey and Philippe exchanged expressions of bemusement. They followed after the redhead, who was already removing her red t-shirt. This caused a lot of the male population watch her as she sashayed over to James. Philippe raised an amused eyebrow and glanced down at Audrey, who sighed, exasperated. James watched with mild interest.

Rachel had chosen to wear a red string bikini with a pink flower on her left breast. When she reached James (as he set the towels down), she removed her torn and tattered jean short shorts.

"Thad's gonna be a pain ta swim in," Audrey informed her as she set down her towel (she had demanded to carry her own stuff).

"Swim? Girl, I'm tanning," Rachel laughed out.

"Suit yerself," Audrey told her as Philippe set his stuff down beside hers.

"Chere, y' goin' for a swim?" Philippe inquired.

"Course I am! Why else would I go to a beach?!" Audrey said assertively. Philippe gave her a smug look.

"I'll be joinin' ya den," he stated. Audrey nearly retorted but realized they were suppose to be a happily married couple.

"Sure, hon," Audrey told him. She stood up and raised her shirt over her head. Philippe smirked, watching the show. Under it was a simple purple suit with blue swishes on it. She removed her shirt and noticed him watching. She smirked at him and he was confused.

"Hon, y'know ya gonna get a show tanight so stop oglin' me," she told him in a sultry, low voice. Oh boy. She knew how to flirt. Philippe quickly recovered, smirking right back.

"Chere, how can I resist when y' do dat right in front of me?" He asked. Audrey rolled her eyes and shimmered out of her jeans and shoes. Philippe had to keep his jaw shut. He never really saw her legs due to her constant need to cover. Her skin was fair but not sickly. And he was seeing more of it today than he bet a lot of people saw in a lifetime. She bent down to get something out of her bag and Philippe couldn't help it. He noticed some other people not helping noticing either. He glowered, rising and moving closer to her. When she stood straight, he was beside her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"So, when we gonna swim?" He purred against her neck. He felt her tense in surprise. She gently pushed him away, trying to hold the role of newly wedded wife.

"Jus' lemme gehd my hair up an' my goggles on," Audrey told him.

Rachel and James watched the entire exchange. Rachel was highly amused while James was thoroughly annoyed. They watched the two go off to the ocean and Rachel turned her attention to her "husband."

"So, penny for your thoughts?" She asked.

"He's not good enough for her," James muttered. "She'll just get hurt." Rachel rolled her eyes and gently shoved him.

"Audrey's a big girl, Jimmy boy," she told him. "I'm sure if he does something, she open a can of whoop ass on him." James let out an amused scoff.

"I wouldn't be surprised," he growled out. "But I've had more run ins with the Cajun than you have. I know what he's like."

"Oh? Pray tell," Rachel said teasingly. James gave her a contemplative stare.

"He's always flirtin' and goin' out late," he said. "Sometimes, when Mom, Gramps and me were visiting, he wouldn't come back until the next morning and he stank of some bimbo's perfume."

"Has he done that since he joined?" Rachel asked slyly. James gave her an annoyed glare and finally mumbled out,

"No." Rachel laughed loudly at this. "But he's probably gonna just break her when he succeeds in seducin' her."

"Oh? And why do you think she'll **let** him?" Rachel asked. "I mean, this is Audrey we're talking about. She's nearly as tough as you." Rachel let out a sigh. "Y'know, let's not get into an argument over this." She rolled onto her stomach and gave James an inploring drink. "Sweetie, can you go get me a drink? Y'know what I like." She gave him a wink and nearly swore she saw the normally stable man blush.

"Fine just don't do that ever again," James gruffed out, rising out of his chair and headed to a juice bar. Rachel let out another laugh and rolled onto her back, stretching her arms out as she bathed in the sunlight. For a few moments, at least. That was when a shadow fell over her form. She opened one green eye to see who it was.

Standing over her was a handsome man with long, white hair pulled into a ponytail. He had piercing blue eyes that seemed to be examining her and a small smile on his face. Rachel let her eyes trail down and realized this guy was nearly as hot as the Cajun. He wore light blue swim trunks and that was it.

"Can I help you?" Rachel asked, raising an inquiring eyebrow.

"A name would be nice," he said in a silky smooth baritone.

"Rachel Richards," Rachel informed him.

"Joseph White," the man replied, sitting beside her. "So, what brings you to the lovely beaches of Hawaii?"

"Well, it's my honeymoon," Rachel told him, pulling it off perfectly. "My best friend and I had a double wedding and now a double honeymoon. We're like sisters."

"Well, that's nice," Joseph told her with a sweet smile. "Too bad you're already taken, Rachel." Rachel was thinking along the same lines. Someone clearing their throats broke the moment and Rachel looked up to see James standing there. She beamed at him and took her pop from his hand.

"Thanks, honey," she said. "Oh! James, this is Joseph White. Joseph, this is my husband, James." Joseph rose and extended his hand. James looked at it like it was diseased before shaking it.

"Pleasure to meet you," Joseph said, smiling. James gave a gruff response that sounded like "Same." Joseph released his hand and turned back to Rachel. "Well, I suppose I'll let you two be. Maybe we'll run into each other later. Farewell." With that, he walked off, James glaring after him and sniffing the air.

"There's no way..." He muttered under his breath.

----

The microwave exploded open, throwing on the pair eggs, mashmellow goo and other things. Magda and Azari exchanged looks.

"We speak of this to no one," Azari said.

"Agreed," Magda voiced, moving to wipe off the goo.

**Author Note(s) cont.: That whole Joseph thing is such crack. He's based on the comicverse Joseph except, well, I've decided to twist him a a bit.**

**In the next chapter, the enemy is revealed and danger awaits the four in Hawaii while Wilhelm wonders who broke the microwave.**


	5. Trouble in Paradise part 2

**Author Note(s): And here we are. The second part. Enjoy.**

**I don't own X-Men: Evolution.**

A few days later, Audrey stood in the bathroom, using the bobby pins her sister had lent her to tuck her hair up neatly and out of her face. She had on her uniform and was nearly ready to go.

"Dieu, I never t'ought you'd take so long to get ready, chere," Philippe said, walking into the room. He wore his uniform, minus the trench coat. What use would that be here? He then sent a devilish smirk her way. "A' course, not t' say I ain't flattered..."

"Can id, Cajun," Audrey snapped. "I'm gettin' id oudda the way. I do this when I have these kinds of missions."

"But I like it down," Philippe whined.

"Well then, I'll wear id up more of'en," Audrey snarked back. Philippe sent her a puppy pout, to which she rolled her eyes. "Did ya gehd the information?" Philippe smirked and pulled out the 'secret' plans of the hotel.

"Oui, dat I did, cherie," he told her.

"Le's gehd down ta business then," Audrey told him, walking out to the main area of the hotel room.

"Chere, I been waitin' for ya ta say dat since I first say ya," Philippe replied, giving her a seductive smirk. Audrey glowered at him.

"Be professional," she told him, crossing her arms and cocking her hip out to the side. A nearly audible click and Philippe's smirk fell and his face turned hard as he set down the schematics on the table.

"Dere seem ta be some kinda lab," he told her, pointing to the supposed other honeymoon suite that was beside theirs. "It actually goes down t' some ot'er floors aussi. 'S amazin' how dey keep dis under wraps." Audrey leaned over the table, examining it.

"Thad's real interestin', hon," Audrey said, her hand tracing the five levels of the lab. When he didn't respond, she glanced up at him to see a coy look plastered on his face. "Whad?"

"Y' called moi hon in private," he stated, practically beaming.

"Habid," Audrey dismissed but Philippe caught the slight blush on her cheeks. He decided to let it slide, knowing she'd strangle him if they didn't get to work.

"I been lookin' at all de levels and I t'ink dat de best level to go to would be de second level," he told her. "Can y' get us in?" Audrey gave him a teasing smirk.

"Cajun, thad's my job," she told him. "Ya ready?"

"With tu? Always," Philippe replied to which she rolled her eyes. She grabbed his hand and touched a shadow, merging the two with it.

To say it was interesting to enter a shadow was an understatement. It was like a big, dark blur with some flashes of scenery. The scenery here was the hotel and as they swirling started to stop, the lab on the second level. The two emerged from the shadow of a large computer. Everything was clear and Philippe made his move. He quickly pulled out specialized goggles that enabled the pair to see any lasers and motion detectors. The two moved quickly and Philippe examined the layout.

All labs were essentially the same. The main computer room was where no one would expect it, yet any trained thief would find it with a blindfold. He motioned for Audrey to follow and they quickly entered the small, out of the way room that looked like a janitor's closet. The room was small and confined. Philippe felt along the walls while Audrey listened for anyone coming. A click was heard and one of the walls moved out of the way. Philippe motioned for Audrey to follow. His instincts felt like something wasn't right and he didn't want her far from him if something dangerous was around. The two quickly descended the stairs and found themselves on a platform with multiple screens flashing around them.

"So, where's the hard drive?" Audrey asked jokingly. Suddenly, the metal in the room started to creak and flew at the pair. Philippe pushed Audrey out of the way and got full force of the sheet of metal. He tried to get his breath but the sheet of metal lifted him from the ground and slammed him against the wall, melding with it.

"Wait, Magneto's dead," Audrey said, shocked by this. Suddenly, two straps of metal grabbed her wrists and lifted her into the air. She struggled against the binds but to no avail.

"Yes, the former Magneto is dead, Shade," an echoing voice said. "But that doesn't mean there cannot be a new one." A figure floated down from the ceiling, his hands behind his back. He wore a grey-purple breast plate over a red spandex suit that had a trail of deep royal purple down the center of his chest. He had on a long, flowing deep purple cape and the same helmet as Magneto. His boots were of metal as were his gloves.

"Well, thad jus' means I gehd ta whip ya around," Audrey said, taking her shadow form.

"Not so fast, Shade," Magneto said, his eyes glowing in the shadow of the helmet. A collar flew out of nowhere and latched onto her neck. She screeched out as it shocked her back to her non-mutant form. Slowly, the pieces of metal that were holding her took her down to the platform.

Philippe grounded his teeth together and reached for the red box with an x on it that was on his belt. He needed to alert James and Rachel, and then figure out how the hell to get down to Audrey.

----

Rachel jumped as the communicator went off. She and James were suited up and waiting for word. Word they hoped wouldn't come. She lifted the device off of her belt and examined it.

"I've got a lock on Philippe's position," she told James.

"Well, let's go save that stupid Cajun's ass," James retorted.

"Well duh," Rachel said, smirking.

----

Magneto landed on the platform looking from Philippe to the unconscious girl before him.

"I honestly expected more from the X-Men," he stated, sounding slightly disappointed. He gently nudged Audrey with his foot. "Honestly, that was too easy."

"Mais, didn' mean ta disappoint," Philippe said, a hint of sarcasm lacing his accent with more spice. Suddenly, an explosion sounded and Magneto was taken off guard when the thief slammed his foot into his helmeted head. While Magneto had been paying attention elsewhere, Philippe had managed to charge the ends of the sheet of metal, causing it to loosen and explode on the ends, keeping him perfectly safe. He landed and turned to Audrey, moving to send a charge into the collar. He cursed in French as it electrocuted his finger. He did it once more, using a charge to battle the shock and managed to null the offending device.

Of course, by that time Magneto was back up and slammed another sheet of metal, sending the Cajun flying.

"Well played, Artifice," he told him.

"Homme, y' got no idea," Philippe told him with a smirk. "Dat fille is une I wouldn' mess wit. She got a temper..." As he said this, the shadowed figure of Audrey slammed into Magneto.

"An' trus' me, he knows from experience," she said, landing a super strength punch in his gut. She spun in the air, slamming her foot into the side of his helmet and he flew into a wall. Philippe made his move quickly and touched the skin on his face. He had been done so quickly, Magneto wasn't aware and merely flung a bar into the Cajun's gut and sent him flying. Philippe landed nimbly on the platform just as Rachel and James entered. Just as a sheet of metal was flying at Audrey. Rachel lifted her right hand and held her left to her forehead, stopping the metal. Magneto glanced at the two.

"I was wondering when you two would be arriving," he said and suddenly, the sheet of metal flew at the pair. Rachel attempted to stop it but it was no use. Luckily, James grabbed her and used his speed to get out of the way.

Philippe, on the other hand, was busying himself with getting to the hard drive. Hell would freeze over before he failed at stealing the information they needed. He heard Audrey fly nearby and he caught the flash drive.

"Merci, chere," he said as she flew off to distract Magneto from the thief's work. He made quick work of it from the knowledge he had snatched from the Magneto. Of course, some other information was floating around in his head but he tried to keep that out of the way for a minute. Still, there was some information that was nagging at the back of his head that he had absorbed. He glanced at his teammates. Just as James saved him from getting wrapped up in a metal wire.

"No need for thanks," James said gruffly. "Just get that information."

"Oui, but of course," Philippe said, a smirk on his face. Audrey looked over at Rachel, who had given her a mental hint. She flew at Magneto as James distracted him but nearly mauling him. She snatched off the helmet, to which Rachel then gave a psychic blast. But not before she saw his face.

"I knew he smelled like slime," James growled out, looking over at the currently unconscious Joseph White.

"Voila! All de information we need is right here," Philippe stated, plucking the flash drive out of the USB port. "So, does dis Cajun get a reward?" He asked, sending a suggestive glance to Audrey.

"Yer right," Audrey said. "Ya totally deserve a reward. Would ya prefer a bone or a biscuid?"

"Y' wound me, chere," Philippe said, putting a hand over his heart. "Now, from my t'ief knowledge, it not a good idea to linger at de scene, oui?" Suddenly, the flash drive lifted out of his hand. "A 'course. It's metal. Et he controls metal...Dieu..." The team turned to see Magneto rising, obviously not as affected by Rachel's blast as they had hoped. Audrey leaped for the flash drive, attempting to use her super strength to stop it from going to his hands. Of course, this caused her to fly at him, which she used to her advantage and landed a firm kick on his jaw. James landed a punch on his cheek bone but was snatched back by some wires of metal. Rachel attempted another blast but felt herself being knocked against the wall and held there by the metal.

"Y'know, I thought you a were attractive, charming man but now I'm just pissed," Rachel spat at him.

"You should really reconsider that, Rachel," Magneto replied.

"Well, if a psychic blas' ain' gonna do anythin, we should do it the old fashioned way, right, Wolf?" Audrey asked, cracking her knuckles.

"My pleasure," James said, smirking and flexing his fingers.

"If de deux a' you done, playing tough, I t'ink I'm gonna play my hand," Philippe said, throwing a handful of cards at Magneto. The man was distracted by the explosions as Philippe leaped and ran up the wall. He pushed off the wall and slammed his bo staff (which he had pulled out during his run) into the man's temple. He flipped over the falling body and landing nimbly on the platform by Audrey.

"Show off," Audrey muttered.

"Y' all were startin' t' irritate me wit' de dancin' round," he replied.

"Didn't hit him hard enough, bub," James told him as Magneto caught himself in the air, his eyes flashing dangerously at the thief.

"I know," he said. "I t'ought I'd let you have fun aussi. Dat hit is gonna make him a lil' disoriented t'ough. Now, y' trois have fun. I'm gonna get Marvel Girl down now." Philippe turned and started walking off to the still struggling Rachel. Magneto glowered and sent a piece of metal flying at him but Audrey intercepted, tossing it away with her strength.

"Sorry, I'm the only one that gehds ta beat up thad Cajun," she told him.

"Love y' too, chere!" Philippe called back over as he leaped up and grabbed hold of one of the pieces of metal that was holding Rachel in place. "Bonsoir, Madamoiselle. What a belle femme like you doin' hangin' out 'round here?"

"Oh, just chilling," Rachel told him with a shrug. Philippe clicked his tongue as a loud crash echoed behind him.

"Dat was chere or James?" He asked.

"That would have been James slamming into a wall," Rachel told him.

"Mais, I don' t'ink y' should be hangin' out 'round here," Philippe said lightly. Another crash and an annoyed growl. "Dat was chere. It was a more feminine growl."

"Yeah, she just flew at Magneto, nearly got him too," Rachel told him. Philippe almost made another comment but Rachel stopped him "No, I don't want to hear about the multiple ways you could make her growl-and not in anger. Get me down, Artifice." Philippe laughed at this.

"Can't fool a telepath, oui?" He asked, charging the ends of the metal.

"Nah, I didn't need telepathy for that," she said as she was freed.

"Is dis a fight about a wannabe Magneto or abuse Artifice conference?" Philippe inquired as the two moved to the platform thanks to Rachel's telekenesis. "T'ink ya can blast him? He ain't got his helmet back on."

"He's distracted enough that it may work," Rachel told him. "Not to mention that smack you gave him. You hit a point on person, right?"

"Oui," Philippe said, smirking coyly. Rachel rolled her eyes and prepared herself for another mental attack. It slammed into the man as he fought against the two super strong members of the two, taking him by surprise. He tried to fight it but the smack that Philippe had landed made him weaker and more vulnerable. He quickly fell and stayed down this time. Philippe knelt down and picked up the flash drive.

"Well, dat was quite de honeymoon, chere," he said to Audrey with a gleeful look. "We should do it again sometime."

"Never again, Cajun," Audrey told him. "Now, I gahdda shadow ya'll back up to the rooms. I'm gonna be worn oud." She cracked her neck and breathed out, preparing herself. She shadowed up and touched a shadow. "Hang on." The three other members touched her and after the swirling of the shadows again, they ended up in Audrey and Philippe's room. Her shadow form immediately vanished and her knees gave out. Philippe quickly caught her.

"I don' need yer help, Gator Bait," she said weakly. He rolled his eyes at this.

"Sure y' don'," he said, picking her up and putting her on the bed. "When we leavin'?" He asked Rachel and James.

"I'll contact for Wilhelm to fly down the Blackbird," Rachel stated. "He should be here in a couple of hours. Enough time for all of us to rest up." Philippe nodded as the two left the room. This trip had been a little short for his liking but hey, this hadn't been vacation. He looked down at Audrey to see she was already fast asleep. He smirked slightly, tilting his head to the side. He reached down and undid her hair, enjoying how silky it felt. Normally, it was him who was enrapturing the ladies. This was a new sensation. He sat down on the bed and started run over the information that he had stolen from this new Magneto. He kept a hand on Audrey's though. Seeing her get shocked at royally pissed him off and made him more protective of her but he had a damn good poker face.

----

James sat in a chair as Rachel paced the room, thinking.

"What're we gonna do with a New Magneto? What's his background?" She muttered.

"Fight and don't know," James told her, lazily watching her pace back and forth.

"Why aren't you unnerved by this?" Rachel asked him. James gave a slight shrug.

"Just another person to pound to the ground," he replied.

"But this guy is making himself to be your grandfather," Rachel nearly exclaimed. James narrowed his eyes.

"I don't associate myself with _that_ side of my family," he growled. "Just call Blue Boy and let's get out of here." Rachel looked at her team mate for a moment then let out a sigh. This wasn't going to get anywhere with him. She pulled out her communicator.

----

Wilhelm was trying to get the microwave to work and make his breakfast burrito. If it didn't work, he would be subject to Danielle's pancakes. He shuddered at the thought. The girl tried and she was friendly and sweet but sometimes, nothing could make Wilhelm have her pancakes. Or anything she cooked really. Not even ramen. Besides, Audrey even managed to make ramen better than her. Wilhelm contemplated this for a moment then shrugged, fiddling with the microwave. Nothing looked wrong with it. Maybe it had short circuited...

Come to think of it, it had been on the fritz since Magda and Azari had been left alone when he had to run some errands. Azari was too responsible to do something. Did Magda? Or was it just some way for God to punish for not being able to forgive-

That's when his communicator went off. He reached into his pocket for it.

"Ja, Marvel Girl?" He asked, stifling a yawn. It was probably two in the morning in Hawaii since it was eight in New York.

"Nightrunner, we need to end our vacation early," Rachel told him. "Wanna come get us?"

"Mm-hm, kein problem," he said. "I'll just have ein doughnut for fruhstruck."

"You're going in and out in German again," Rachel told him.

"It is fruh," he said groggily. "See you in drei stunde."

"Um, okay, bye," Rachel said, clicking off. Wilhelm stretched his arms above his head, deciding to get suited up. Danielle entered the kitchen as he grabbed a doughnut from a box.

"Don't ya want a pancake?" She asked. Wilhelm jumped and held his hands up.

"Nein, nein! I have to go get Rachel and zhe ozhers!" He told her, quickly leaving the room.

----

The group had met Wilhelm had a private airport at five in the morning. Audrey managed to stagger onto the plane, obviously still worn out by dragging three other people through the shadows. She was so tired she didn't protest when Philippe sat beside her. But the strangest thing was, he didn't make a snide comment. He just seemed deep in thought, as if he was analyzing something.

Rachel yawned and stretched, deciding to take a nap on the way back. Audrey was already ahead of her. She had fallen asleep and after about half an hour, her head drooped and landed on Philippe's shoulder. The touch seemed to zap the guy out of his trance and he looked at the girl, smirking slightly. He moved his arm around her so they'd both be more comfortable and he went back to picking apart the information in his head. The name Claudine Renko kept popping up in the forefront but everything else was a blur...

**Author Note(s) cont: Woo, that was a challenge to write. Anyway, things have been revealed yet so many things remain a question.**

**In the next installment, someone's after James. What will transpire when they get their hands on him?**


	6. Weapon X

**Author Note(s): I do believe this is my longest chapter thus far. Enjoy.**

**I don't own X-Men: Evolution.**

James landed nimbly on his toes, avoiding the strike of the laser gun in the danger room. He did a back flip, avoiding a blade.

"'Ey, mon ami, y' been at dis all day," Philippe said over the speaker. "Y' sure y' don' wanna come out wit de rest a' us?"

"Cajun, just shut up," James growled out. Philippe blinked as he stood in the observation room, watching the young man.

"Okay, mais it'd be your deat'," he said, shrugging. "I jus' see if Gramps wants ta watch ya. Or mebbe Aunt Laura..." James didn't really care. He'd been fine even if no one was there. He _had_ the family healing factor and his father's super speed.

Father. Huh. Did he deserve that? Granted, Pietro had never been that bad, just not around that much. The whole thing had been a mistake anyway. A one night, drunken stand. James slammed a kick into one of the robots, not phased by the fact. Hey, his mother had been a clone. There were more screwed up childhoods that he could've had. After too short of a time, the simulation ended.

"Jim, I think you've done enough," he heard his maternal grandfather say.

"Gramps, I can keep goin'," James growled up at Logan.

"Watch it, Jim," Logan growled right back. "We're gonna have a talk. You didn't even clear this with me first. Stripe had to tell me. Go shower off. I'll be waitin' outside of the locker room." James bit back a groan. Great, now Logan would be after him. He entered the locker room, running his hands through his dark brown mane. He paused for a moment, listening. He could have sworn he heard something just outside. He shook his head, deciding that dawdling would only annoy Logan more. He quickly showered and changed into fresh clothes. By that, light wash worn jeans and a worn formerly black shirt. He stepped out of the locker room and Logan was leaning against the wall beside it.

"Well?" He growled.

"Well what?" James snarled back.

"Jim, what's goin' on with you lately?" Logan inquired.

"Nothin'," James muttered, moving to walk past. Logan grabbed his shoulder. In retaliation, James snatched his wrist and threw him. Logan quickly caught himself, unsheathing his claws.

"You got a lotta explaining ta do, Jim," Logan warned. James blinked for a moment and shifted out of a fighting stance, signaling surrender.

"Something doesn't feel right," he stated, not looking his grandfather in the eye. "I keep hearing stuff that isn't normal. And it always disappears when someone comes around me." He narrowed his eyes and looked Logan in the eye. "And I ain't bein' paranoid." Logan examined him calmly.

"That doesn't explain the extra training sessions that you don't pass by me and the random attacks," he said.

"What? The Cajun shouldn't be slammed into every now and then?" James asked with a smirk. Logan glowered and James' smirk fell instantly.

"Not that I don't agree, but we're a team," he said. "Randomly attackin' teammates-no matter how much they might deserve it-isn't the best idea, Jim."

"It's just stressin me out, Gramps," James told him. "I just want to find out what the hell it is and pound its face in. If I had claws like you and Mom, I'd slit its throat." Logan slowly nodded, considering this.

"Well, I'll make sure security's upped a bit more," he said, putting a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Chuck would probably suggest you stay in the mansion until this thing is taken care of. Got it, Jim?"

"You really think I will?" James asked, crossing his arms.

"Not really," Logan replied. "Just don't get caught."

"I'm **your** grandson," James said as he walked off.

"Ain't that the truth," Logan muttered when James turned the corner, a small smile on his face.

----

James hopped onto his harley, revving the engine. He sped out of the grounds, barely giving the gates time to open. He zoomed down the road, away from Bayville. He needed the wind in his hair and his mind elsewhere than the mansion and the strange sounds he frequently heard. He drove for a while and the sun had well set. He stopped his bike, looking back the way he had game. He supposed that he should start heading back now. At this rate, Philippe would be back before him. He revved his engine again, ready to peel off when something hard hit him. He flew off of the bike and landed on his feet. He growled slightly, seeing a figure standing on top of his bike.

"Well, so you're the kid of the little bitch," the woman said in a low voice. "What? No claws to bear?"

"I don't need claws to rip out your throat," James growled, leaping at her. She merely laughed, her midnight black hair swaying in the night. She avoided him easily and slammed her foot into the side of his face. He flew into a tree but managed to land on his feet. He growled, preparing to attack when something hit his neck. He froze, feeling the drug start into his bloodstream and effect him.

"Hey, Jimmy!" He heard an obnoxious voice say. He fell to his knees as a figure in red and black came over to him, carrying a large sniper gun. His mask was red with black circles around his white eyes. James had seen information on this guy. Deadpool. The woman was a mystery though. Seemed like she knew his mom though. Deadpool knelt down, looking him in the eye. He rubbed his chin, examining him. "What? No bub? You act enough like Logan." Of course this crazed lunatic knew his grandfather. James tried to brace himself as he fell to the ground but his arms gave out. "You're putting up a good fight, kid! Ooohh, I wonder how well you'd do hand-to-hand! I should try that when we get where we're going. That is, if someone let's me." Deadpool seemed to glare to nowhere in particular.

"What are you talking about, Wilson?" The woman asked.

"The person writing all of this, of course," Deadpool said with a nod. The woman examined him with green eyes then slowly shook her head.

"Let's just get the kid and go," she said.

"Oh, sure, whatever Kimura," Deadpool said as James started to slip into darkness. "Let's stop for chimichungas on the way."

"No, Wilson," Kimura said as James officially blacked out.

----

Laura paced in the foyer, waiting to hear her son's Harley come up the road. He'd been gone too long for one of his normal rides. Her mother instinct was kicking into overdrive. She heard movement on the stairs and looked up, seeing Logan there.

"Let's look for him, Father," Laura said. Logan considered it, frowning deeply. James had told him what had been going on and now Logan knew something was wrong.

"I'll start lookin'," Logan said, walking down the stairs. "You call Pietro. James is his son too." Laura shifted slighty, looking ready to say no. "Hey. He paid the child support." Laura glowered and nodded, heading to a communications room.

"I'll come too," Logan heard Rachel say from behind him.

"Scarlet, this'll probably be messy," he said.

"James is my team mate," Rachel said with an affirming nod. "Besides, you might need a little mind over matter." She smirked and Logan smirked right back, shaking his head.

"We'll take my bike," he said, walking to the garage. Rachel followed after, putting on a red leather coat.

----

"Pietro, learn to answer your damned phone the **first** time!" Laura practically screamed into the device.

"Hey, hey, calm down, Laura," Pietro said defensively. "Not my fault I was _sleeping_! What's got your panties in a bunch?!"

"James is missing," Laura informed him. There was a pause on the phone.

"Laura, the kid's twenty," Pietro said. "He can be out as much as he wants."

"There's more to it, Pietro," Laura told him. "Logan told me James has been hearing things and dammit, I have a bad feeling. You _know_ how that is." Another pause on the other end of the phone.

"All right, Laura," he finally said. "I'll be right there." A few minutes after the phone hung up, a buzz was over the intercom. Laura pressed the button to see it was Pietro. She opened the gate and he ran up to the door, barely giving the agile woman a chance to get down into the foyer to open the door for him. He stopped, and he looked like he had barely aged since she last saw him. Of course, neither had she.

"So, what happened, Laura?" Pietro asked, looking at the shorter woman.

"He went out on his Harley to clear his head," Laura told him. "That was hours ago. Despite how he acts, he's normally fairly responsible. Especially if Logan's involved. And seeing as Logan is one of the superiors here, he normally obeys the curfew rule. Which was two hours ago."

"I see," Pietro said, nodding. "Where's Logan?"

"He went off to track him," Laura informed him.

"Well, you wanna be my nose and we'll catch up in no time," Pietro said, sending her a winning smirk. Laura rolled her eyes but allowed him to pick her up bridal style.

"Go away from town when you exit the grounds," she told him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He smirked, nodding.

"Got it," he said, taking off.

----

Logan stopped when he saw James' bike laying abandoned on the side of the road. He stopped, sniffing the air.

"What is it?" Rachel asked, leaning so she could see his face.

"Deadpool," Logan growled out. A zip sounded and Pietro and Laura appeared beside them. Pietro placed Laura down on her feet and she sniffed as well.

"Kimura," she growled, venom dripping from the name.

"Can you two track them?" Rachel asked.

"It's been a few hours," Logan said. "They more than likely took a plane. If it's the two of them..."

"Then the Weapon X Program is behind it," Laura muttered, anger on her face.

----

Deadpool sat outside of the cell that James was in, whistling away. He froze and turned to look nowhere.

"Oh, well, hey, what the hell is with this scene?" He asked, crossing his arms. "Well, anyway, I'll just fill you readers in. Right now I am waiting for the doctors to give the all clear to take Mini-Logan there "he thumbed to the unconscious James "to the lab so they can play jigsaw puzzle with his DNA. Me? I'm getting paid a pretty penny to do this. And you know what I'm going to with that money? I'm going to buy the Playboy Mansion. Yup."

"Wilson, what are you doing?" Kimura sighed, walking over to the cell.

"Talking to the loyal readers," Deadpool simply replied. Kimura stared at him for a moment then shook her head.

"The doctors are ready for the brat," she said calmly, opening the cell. James groaned slightly. Kimura smirked darkly.

"Good, he's waking," she said. "That'll make the procedures more fun."

----

James opened his eyes slowly, realizing he was in a tank of some sort. He could barely hear what was going on outside as the scientists spoke.

"Father's DNA...Blocking...Claws...Easy fix..." They adjusted the dials and James let out a blood curdling scream as he felt his DNA being torn and resewn. What the hell kind of technology did these people have?! After excruciating minutes, the pain slowed and began a dull throb. James slammed his fist against the glass, attempting to break it. He growled. Of course he was strong enough to hold back one of his punches. The pain finally subsided for a moment. He let out a relieved sigh but froze. Why were his knuckles hurting? He looked down at his hands. In between his pointer fingers and his middle fingers as well as his pinkies and the unnamed fingers, little pieces of bone were sticking out. Did his knuckles break? Slowly, the bones started to come out more and James held back his cry of pain. The sensation was horrible.

"Knock...Out...Take...Cell," he managed to make out before everything went black.

----

Laura groaned, frustrated. It had been three days. Three days! She slammed her hands onto the computer screen beside Forge. The Native American with salt and pepper hair stared at her.

"I'm working as fast as I can, Laura," he told her firmly, returning back to hacking and trying to find the new Weapon X project.

"Well, work faster!" Pietro exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. Logan was leaning against a wall on the other side of the room, watching the group. He would enjoy killing Deadpool over and over for taking his grandson to **that** hell.

Rachel entered the room at this time. She looked from each person to the other and shook her head.

"The search party hasn't found anything at the former site," she said.

"As I thought," Logan growled.

"Any news here?" She asked.

"No, wait, ah-HA!" Forge said. "Got it!" Everyone looked at him with different forms of expectation on their faces. "Their new facility is up in Maine near the Canadian border. I'll send the coordinates to the Blackbird."

"Let's go then!" Pietro exclaimed, rushing out the room. Laura tucked her hair behind her ear as the wind from his run swirled by. She rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"He never changes," she muttered, hurrying out of the room as well. Logan and Rachel soon followed.

----

James looked at his bloodied knuckles. The bone claws were finished growing and making their marks it seemed. The pain had stopped and his accelerated healing was taking on it's job. He only had two wide set bone claws unlike Logan's three and his mother's two in the hands and one in each foot. He practiced making the claws slide in and out. It stopped being painful after the first hundred times. Suddenly, he smelled the gas leaking in. He knew what was coming. The admantanium bonding process. He coughed as the air thickened and fell to his knees. He tried to fight the gas but slowly and surely, he fell, passed out. The gas filtered out of the room and the door swung open. Deadpool entered the room, whistling and lazily twirling one of his blades.

"Whelp, mini-Logan, it's time for admantanium," he said, dropping the blade an inch from James' face. It stood vertically out of the ground and Deadpool knelt down. "Who knows if you'll survive. You might and I want you to. Why? Because I want to see how much it takes to kill you."

----

The jet set down a few miles out of the facility's security area. The group of rescuers exited the craft, Wolverine taking the lead.

"Quicksilver, take a run around the perimeter and tell us what you saw," he ordered. Quicksilver opened his mouth to complain about being ordered about but shut up as the father and clone daughter duet sent him death glares. He sighed and took off. The three others waited a few minutes and Pietro zoomed to a stop.

"The circumference of the area is roughly twenty five miles with two guards posted every five miles," he said quickly.

"All right, we're going to have to sneak in there quickly and quietly," Wolverine growled. "But let's stay together as a group. If anyone gets separated and captured, they're screwed. Talon and me'll take the lead, seein' as to the fact that we got keener senses than you two. Marvel Girl, keep a psychic scan goin' just in case. Quicksilver, stay close and don't do anything stupid." The girls gave affirming nods while Quicksilver looked insulted.

Slowly, the ground entered the grounds, skillfully avoiding detection. The came across the large compound and hid against the wall near a door. Wolverine signaled to Quicksilver, who smirked and ran at top speed, taking the guards out before anyone was the wiser. He used a card he swiped from one of the cards to open the door. The group entered the compound. Forge had sent a schematics plan to the Blackbird but Wolverine wasn't sure what stage they would have James in at the moment. He motioned towards the holding cells, deciding to check there first. Cleverly avoiding detection, they found that the cells were empty.

Logan let out a low growl. They probably already altered the boy to have claws. That must mean he was undergoing the admantanium bonding process.

A scream filtered through the air, causing all in the party to turn towards it.

"Looks like he busted out," Logan muttered.

----

The pain was too much to bear as the metal bonded with his skeleton. Why the hell were these people doing this? He flexed his claws out, which were now coated with admantanium. His eyes flew open, anger reflecting in them as he slammed his claws into the container. He did it again and again. His adrenaline was running too strong for the drugs they were trying to put in his system to knock him out. Finally, the container shattered, sending him and the liquid his was when spewing across the floor. He coughed for a moment, tearing off the oxygen mask. He leaped at the nearest person and heard them utter a scream. At the time, he was angry and didn't give a damn.

"Time for some fun!" Deadpool yelled, pulling out his two handguns and rat-tatting away with the sound of firing bullets. James fell back as the bullets hit his skin but all the did was make him bleed for a moment. The issue was when Kimura attacked him. He spun around to stab her with his claws but found that her skin would not be pierced. He then got a fist in the face, flying back-into Deadpool.

"Hey-! Watch it, Kimura!" He exclaimed then added as an after thought _Author lady, you totally did that on purpose. And here I thought you liked me._ He pulled out a blade and blocked James' claws as the doors exploded open. "Hot damn, I was wondering when they'd show up!" He craned his neck to see Wolverine, Quicksilver, Talon, and Marvel Girl. "Hey Logan!" Deadpool kicked James off of him and jumped to his feet, lazily swinging his blade around. "No cards? No calls? Not even a stupid e-card. I'm crushed. I thought we were good chums."

"Wilson, you're dead," Wolverine growled out, leaping at him. Kimura held a coy smile, receiving a harsh glare from Talon.

"I knew you'd come running back," she said, preparing for the clone's attack. Talon let out a feral growl and leaped at her, claws out.

Marvel Girl stood near James, attempting to calm his racing mind with her telepathy. His instincts had taken over and were putting up a good fight. Suddenly, she heard a shot being fired and attempted to deflect it with telekenesis but felt herself being tackled by James.

"Keep your head up," he growled.

"Oh, I was doing a rather fine job," Rachel growled right back. "I was about to deflect it! Now, would you be so kind as to get off of me?! Unless you enjoy it. Then get off of me faster." James glared at her and stood up, giving her a hand up.

Talon was not fairing well against Kimura. Her former handler was making quick work of the young woman but froze. She clutched her head as Marvel Girl sent a psychic blast at her. She tried to fight it but Marvel Girl just fought back with more intensity.

Deadpool skillfully leaped out of Logan's claw's path, nimbly landing on one of the control panels. The scientist backed up, eyes wide and he turned to run.

"What? Is my butt that bad?" Deadpool asked as he blocked Wolverine's blows for blow. He managed to land a good kick into Wolverine's gut, sending him flying. "I love fighty time...Thank you almighty Authoress. Even if you did make Kimura slam mini-Logan into me." Wolverine growled and ignored Deadpool's random spout offs. He leaped at the man again, taking him down. Suddenly, Quicksilver appeared beside the unconscious Kimura.

"Okay, we need to leave right now," he said sternly. "I set up the bombs, just as ordered."

"What?! Bombs?!" Deadpool said, shoving Wolverine off of him and standing firm, raising a scolding finger to no where in particular. "Are you serious?! You're using sabotage instead of Logan or Mini-Logan running in and destroying it with their claws! Why not go with what I expected!" As he continued to rant, the group decided to take their leave. Of course, Deadpool would have none of that.

"Don't even think about it," he said, raising a gun and taking aim. He fired the shot, the bullet headed straight towards the one who didn't have advanced healing or something along those lines. Marvel Girl. James moved quickly, having the bullet pierce his back instead of the girl.

"Well, that's no fun," Deadpool said, clicking his tongue and deciding to make his leave as the red lights flashed. He watched as the group hauled the injured James (he wouldn't stay like that for long) out to safety. He looked down at the unconscious Kimura, nudging her with his foot. "Have a nice afterlife," he said, walking out of the building on the opposite side the group had left from. He hurried his pace just as the explosion took place.

It would be so much fun messing with that messed up family.

**Author Note(s) cont: How many fourth walls can Deadpool break?**

**Deadpool: Yes! You made me so cool at the end!**

**What? How'd you get here?! Go away! I have other things to talk about!**

**Deadpool: No.**

**Whiner. Anyway, there's a poll on my main page on who your favorite guy is from this series. Logan is winning with three and Philippe And Azari are tied for second with one apiece.**

**Deadpool: Wait, no one voted for me?**

**Live with it. This is your first appearance.**

**Deadpool: So? I'm so awesome that I shouldn't even **_**have**_** to make an appearance to be someone's favorite.**

**Just shut up, Wilson.**

**Next Time: Magda finds a clue to her mother's whereabouts but what is truly awaiting her...?**


	7. Red Herring

**Author Note(s): I don't speak Australian (lol) so excuse any messed up slang. Chellerbelle. Haha.**

**Oh, and the point of a poll is to know your opinion. Voting for Logan how many times in a row is not cool. It just ticks me off real bad because then it isn't an honest opinion and I don't care how much you like him. So, I'm resetting that poll before we move onto the girls. Thank ya bullheaded idiot.**

**I don't own X-Men: Evolution.**

Magda let her black and blonde-orange curls down. She had just gotten down with a jog outside. Things were really different in the States. First off, she didn't have to worry about running to five foot big spiders like in the outback. Of course, if she did run into one of them, she'd burn them to a crisp. No one believed her when she told them about the spiders of course. They just thought she was insane.

She reached into the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water, gulping it down quickly.

"Morning!" She heard Danielle say cheerily.

"G'mornin'," Magda replied. "What're ya doin' up so early?"

"There was a spider in my room." Danielle told her. "I tried ta get Audrey ta kill it but she has this weird sympathy deal with 'em."

"Oh? Was it a big'un?" Magda asked nonchalantly.

"It was huge," Danielle said, putting a piece of toast in the toaster.

"Sure, Oy think Oy'll have a bikkie," Magda said, scrounging for the item. Danielle was confused until she pulled out a biscuit. The toaster popped and the toast was burnt. "So, Oy take it Aud's awake?"

"Yeah, why?" Danielle asked.

"Then she can make us a good brekkie," Magda stated firmly.

"Whoever said I'd agree ta' makin' ya'll breakfast?" Audrey asked, stifling a yawn.

"Simple, sheila, you're the best cook in the mansion," Magda told her with a nod. "So, did Philippe crack onto ya at all in Hawaii?"

"Whad? Y'mean flir'?" Audrey asked, pulling out a frying pan and putting some butter on it. She turned the stove on and melted the butter. "How many eggs?"

"Two," Danielle said.

"Same," Magda commented. Audrey nodded and pulled out six eggs, breaking them and putting them in a bowl, whipping them. "Yeah. Your American lingo is off the topper. Anyway, that bloke is cunning as a dunny rat. What'd he do?"

"Anythin' I need to hurt him for?" Danielle asked.

"Nah, I can handle id," Audrey informed them. "He ain' nothin' bud a walkin' ego anyway. An' he did pull on the moves bud id's me. Moves don' work too well."

"Ah, I'll remember dat next time, cherie," Philippe said, entering the room and stretching a bit.

"Well, lookie here," Magda said. "It's the figjam."

"Figjam?" Audrey asked, ignoring Philippe as he got a cup of coffee.

"Walkin' ego basically," Magda informed her. Magda looked from Philippe to Audrey and raised an eyebrow. "Stop perving the sheila, mate. No wonder she won't give ya the time a' day. You're such a root rat. Now, you're both a pair a' spunks but Oy gotta say this makes me wanna chunder."

"Desole, didn' understand y' meanin'," Philippe stated.

"Now ya know how I feel when ya star' spittin' off thad French crap," Audrey muttered, scrambling the eggs for the girls. She finished and put the eggs on three different plates, getting to work on bacon.

"But French is de language of amour," Philippe said, standing next to her. Some bacon grease went flying and landed on his naked chest. He swore and Audrey rolled her eyes, turning to the sink and wetting a cloth.

"An' thad, my friends, is why ya always wear a shir' when near cookin' bacon," she stated, tending to Philippe slight burns.

"You're such a dill, Philippe," Magda said while Danielle quietly giggled.

"Mebbe I planned it so your hands would be all over me," Philippe said with a suggestive wink.

"I do beleave I shoulda le' the grease be," Audrey growled, finishing up and returning to the cooking.

"Hey, Audrey, can we have pancakes too?" Danielle asked.

"Good oil! Pancakes would be ripper!" Magda agreed. Audrey glowered at them, finishing the bacon.

"No," she said firmly. "I'm starvin' an' tired a' hangin' oud in fron' of the stove. I ain' yer kitchen slave."

"But you're so good at it, mate!" Magda said. She shrunk back as Audrey glared at her. "Alroyght, alroyght, don't start spewin'." Philippe chuckled, shaking his head.

"Mais, I'll be gettin' dressed an' headed t' de mall," he said. "Anyone need a lift?" He sent a glance at Audrey, who had her back to him.

"Sure, I needta go to the bookstore," she said absentmindedly.

"As much as I'd love to go, can't," Danielle sighed, disappointed. "I have a paper to write for my college class."

"Oy wouldn't be within Cooee of you two when you're together, mates," Magda said firmly.

"Waid, you guys are jus'," Audrey stuttered, turning to the girls. "Danielle-I though'-you-mall..." She let out a groan as Philippe walked over beside her and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Looks like it's tu an' me, ma chere," he said cheekily. "Mebbe after de mall, we go to a nice Italian restaurant, jus' like you like."

"How'd ya know I like Italian?!" Audrey exclaimed then looked at Danielle, who was pushing the eggs around on her plate. "Never you mind...Sides, we have ye' to ask Rachel, James, Wilhelm, and Azari!"

"Hm, well den, lemme t'ink," Philippe said, putting on a mock thinking face. "Rachel an' Azari are off on a mission, James is workin' wit' his mere and Gramps t' get over de whole Weapon X fiasco and de deux a' dem said no. Wihelm has some work t' do round de mansion. So, 's just tu an' me, cherie."

"Yer a very frustratin' fella, y'know thad?" Audrey growled, crossing her arms. Philippe smiled wide, knowing he was winning.

"Je suis," he agreed, thoroughly amused.

----

Magda stretched as she made her way to her room. As soon as she entered it, her cellphone began to ring.

"G'day?" She asked, wondering if it was Audrey wanting to be rescued.

"I know where your mother is," a robotic voice stated. Magda froze and gripped the phone.

"All right, who the bloody hell are ya?!" She yelled into the phone.

"Go to New York City and further instructions will be given there," the voice continued. "Bring whoever you wish. It will not help." A click sounded as the person hung up. Magda growled and a blue flame appeared around her fist.

"Ya want me ta go to the Big Smoke, eh?" She said lowly. A knock came on her door and she turned, opening it. Wilhelm stood there, looking at her questioningly.

"Magda, iz zhere anyzhing wrong?" He asked. "I heard you yell."

"Someone contacted me about my mum, Will," Magda told him.

"What, really?!" Danielle said, exiting her and Audrey's room. "We should go an' get her then!"

"Ja, ve'll come mit you, Magda!" Wilhelm stated with a nod.

"They said they wanted me ta go ta NYC an' ta bring whoever I wanted," Magda told them. "They said it wouldn' be any help."

"Vell, zhey have yet to deal mit us, ja?!" Wilhelm said, smirking.

"He's right, I may be small, but I sure as heck am not dainty," Danielle commented.

"Well, then, looks like we're goin' in for a blue," Magda told them.

----

Audrey let a small smirk come to her face. It had been totally worth the extra sunscreen. She sat in Philippe's car, her bare legs stretched out in front of her. She had chosen to wear a pair of somewhat short shorts and a tight baby-t that said "look but don't touch." And Philippe had done plenty of looking when she came to the garage. She might find the guy infuriating most of the time, but it was fun to get a reaction out of him. He always acted so cool and calm. It was fun to get him to stutter. She looked over at Philippe who was gripping the steering wheel tightly and looking at the road. She smirked darkly, having a little touch much fun.

"Cajun, somethin' the maddah?" She asked in a low, sultry voice. He stiffened and her smirk grew wider.

"Non," he said in a choked voice.

"Mm, thad's good," Audrey said, leaning back a bit. "Look, I jus' remembered thad I need ta look at some leos fer a show me and Danielle are puttin' on. Can I get yer opinion on some a' them?"

"Sure," Philippe replied, and Audrey knew he didn't really register what she said. She grinned a Cheshire grin, realizing she was going to have a load of fun today.

----

Magda, Danielle, and Wilhelm got of the train, telling the professor that they were going to the city to shop. Something about Danielle needing to look at leotards. As soon as they were away from the crowd, Magda's phone rang.

"G'day?" She said.

"Go right and walk for five blocks," the robotic voice ordered. "Once there, take a left across the street and walk for six blocks." The line went dead and Magda looked at her companions.

"Follah me." The group followed the directions, entering a warehouse district.

"Why is it always a warehouse?" Danielle asked, exasperated.

"Ja, it gets a bit redundant," Wilhelm agreed. Magda's phone went off again and she answered.

"Yeah, Oy'm here," she growled out. "Now, where's my mum?"

"Go to warehouse sixteen," the robotic voice told her. Magda walked towards the cruddy looking building, the red paint peeling off of the sixteen. She reached for the door cautiously and looked over her shoulder. Wilhelm had turned off his image inducer and Danielle had turned to her light form. Magda took a breath and kicked open the door, causing it to nearly fall off of its hinges. She closed her phone and walked in, her friends behind her.

"Aw royght, Oy'm in here," Magda said. "Now, show your ugh face!" Suddenly, the ground started to rock and shake.

"Brotherhood!" Danielle said, taking to the air. Suddenly, Frenzy came from the rafters and tackled the light mutant.

"Ve are sorely outnumbered if all of zhe Brozherhood iz here," Wilhelm muttered.

"Well, we're just gonna hafta show 'em what we got," Magda said, holding her hands out and a blue flame appeared between them. She aimed it at Landslide who quickly avoided and countered with another earthquake headed her way. Wilhelm avoided a blow from Animan and pulled out his communicator.

"Calling all X-Men! Ember, Light, and I are in need of assistance!" He called, avoiding Astra. "JETZT!"

"We're in the area, Nightrunner," Azari's calm voice came over. "Marvel Girl and I are on our way. Hold on."

Magda held her flame on and was surprised to see she was surrounded by identical looking men. She aimed her flame at one and he was the only one to disappear.

"See if you can find the real one," the Multiplys jeered.

"Bloke, you jus' askin' fer trouble now," Magda said, creating a blue flame sword and leaping at one. She laughed as she continued to slice and dice clones. Finally, she found one who quivered and took her knee to his temple, knocking him out. She grinned from ear to ear, landing. "Always act coo-coo an' you'll find 'em."

Danielle flew through a wall after a kick from Frenzy but quickly recovered, sending a blast of light at the woman. Astra was going against Wilhelm while Landslide took the chance to shake up the ground Magda was on. Animan took advantage of this and tackled her. Landslide moved to create another earthquake when he was lifted from the ground.

"You mess with our family, you're in for it," Azari said from the rafter he crouched on and Rachel hovered over. Azari stood straight and lightning formed around his hands. "You're wearin' a lot of metal, Landslide..." He held his hands above his head as his eyes and tattoos glowed a white-blue. He sent the lightning at the man, shocking him. He suddenly fell off the rafter as Animan knocked him down after flying up. He grabbed Rachel by her ankle and slammed her against a beam, sending her falling to the ground.

"Marvel Girl!" Wilhelm called, quickly porting away from Astra and catching her. He ported to the ground beside Azari, who had nimbly landed on his feet. Wilhelm just managed to set Rachel down when he got blasted by Astra.

"I've had enough of you," Danielle muttered as Frenzy held her against the ground. She reached up and grabbed her hair, swinging her around and sending her flying through a wall. Frenzy started to get up only to be knocked out by Rachel's telepathy. A pair of viscous growls were heard as Azari and Animan kept their battle to the shadows. Wilhelm appeared on a crate and Astra showed herself in front of him, only to get burned from Magda's blue fire.

"Let's see, we got..." Magda said. "One, two, three, four buggers. All that's left is..." Azari flew out of the shadows after taking a hit. "The crazy jungle bloke." Animan stepped out of the shadows, rolling his shoulders. He smirked, showing fangs. He crossed his arms and looked up at Magda.

"Your mom ain't here, girlie," he told her. He rolled his wrists as he examined the X-Men standing ready before him. "Well, unfortunately, the person I wanted to be here ain't."

"Vhat vas zhe point of all of zhis, Animan?" Wilhelm asked suspiciously.

"Our employer wanted some stats on you all," Animan informed him. "Wanted to see if Magda there had any chance of her mother's abilities. Seems not though."

"Does that new employer happen to be Magneto?" Rachel asked. Animan shrugged.

"Maybe, maybe not," he told them before glowing gold and taking to the air. Rachel tried to stop him but he glowed again, his eyes becoming like a snake's. He spit out some venom right at her and she avoided, releasing her hold on him and he got away through the windows in the roof.

Magda narrowed her eyes, her hands clenching into fists. Flames appeared around them and her hair started to float from the heat coming off of her hands. The other members backed up. Wilhelm slowly made his way over to Magda and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Ve **vill** find her, Magda," he said, ignoring the pain of the heat. "It vill just take time." The heat began to subside.

"Whoever took my mum, they'll pay," she told him. "Don't even got a bloody idea what they doin' ta her." Wilhelm nodded solemnly.

"Come, let us go home and force Audrey to make up supper, ja?" He suggested.

"Ripper," Magda said, sounding sour still.

----

Audrey entered the mansion thoroughly pleased with herself. She had tormented the Cajun the entire day. Sexually frustrating people was fun. Philippe followed in after her, carrying his bags and glaring at her. She moved to go upstairs but he moved quicker, grabbing her and pulling her against him.

"Now, y' been teasin' dis Cajun all day," he scolded. "Don't y' t'ink I deserve a reward for bein' so good?" He leaned into her and at the last possible moment, he was blasted back by a light beam. He swore as he tumbled over the couch and looked to see the group back.

"Back off of my sister," Danielle ordered, glaring at him. Philippe glowered at the group, rubbing his head. "Hey, Audrey, want to make us dinner?"

"Why? I already ate," Audrey told them, acting like nothing had occurred, taking her bags upstairs. When she was sure no one was paying attention, she threw a teasing look over her shoulder at Philippe, who's smirk widened.

**Author Note(s) cont: So, this just struck me after I completed this chapter. Who's kid would you like to make an appearance. Because eventually I am going to have them make appearances. So, uh...Ideas?**


	8. Sprains and Lies

**Author Note(s): Hey, a Christmas special! A day late!**

**Well, it's not really. It just takes place in Christmas.**

**I don't own X-Men: Evolution. And if you ever want to use my second generations in something, just send me a message. I'll probably be cool with it.**

Christmas at the Xavier Institute. The snow was falling and it was a few days before everyone headed home to visit their families. Logan growled slightly, standing at the entrance to the living area. Hanging on the arch was mistletoe.

"Who hung this up?" He growled out.

"Dude, who do you think?" Forge asked, walking up beside him. The Native American had gone to the military and gained muscle and a mustache. His black hair was pulled back in a ponytail.

"My money's on Philippe or Danielle," the Canadian growled.

"It was the latter," Forge stated. "I say leave it up. Let the kids have fun with it." Professor Xavier came up to the two, examining the festive decoration. A small smile came to his face.

"Yes, let's leave it and see what happens," he agreed.

"Fine but if someone ends up dead, it ain't my fault," Logan grumbled, stalking off.

"So, prof, what's everyone up to?" Forge asked.

"Well, Audrey got a snowball fight started with Wilhelm and Rachel," Xavier told him as they made their way down the hallway. "Danielle, Magda, and Azari are watching Christmas movies and drinking hot chocolate. James and Philippe are training in the Danger Room. Laura is keeping an eye on them."

"Wait, what? Why?" Forge asked, blinking in confusion. Xavier smiled slightly, looking amused.

"It's James, that's obvious," he replied.

"Yeah, but prof, I was asking about Philippe," Forge told him. "I mean, that dude is always followin' Audrey around like a perverted puppy dog."

"Oh, he hates the cold and Audrey loves it," Xavier stated, clearly amused by this fact.

"I see," Forge said, nodding.

----

"So, Cajun," James said, avoiding the poker hand, "want to explain why you were so eager to train with me?"

"Ain' not'in t' talk about," Philippe replied, pulling out another card. He froze for a moment, looking at the card. It was the Queen of Diamonds. He quickly tucked it into his pocket and pulled out another card.

"And what card was **that**, Cajun?" James asked as he ran at the other man.

"Don' t'ink dat be any a' your business, homme," Philippe stated, tossing the card. James skillfully avoided the attack at the last second. He pulled out another card and blinked. The King of Spades. "Hold on a second, homme." Philippe then proceeded to sit down and shuffle his cards. James froze and watched him curiously. "I can read de cards, mon ami." He pulled out three cards. The King of Spades again. Followed by the Queen of Clubs. The final was the two of hearts. Philippe smirked and looked up at James then back at the cards.

"What?!" James asked, thoroughly confused. Philippe smirked even wider.

"It seem t' me dat you gonna have some romance goin' on, mon ami," Philippe told him cheerily. James scoffed and crossed his arms.

"Yeah right," he growled out. "With who? The Queen of Clubs?"

"Dat be right, Jimmy," Philippe laughed out.

"So, who's the Queen of Diamonds?" James asked, waving the card in a bored manner. Philippe froze and reached into his pocket.

"Give dat back, y' scoundrel!" He yelled, leaping at James. James avoided Philippe and kept avoiding him, an amused look on his face. After a while, James let up and allowed Philippe to reshuffle his cards 'just to see what else would come up.'

"So, did you read somethin' earlier that bothered you?" He asked after a moment. Philippe looked up, surprised and then back at the cards.

"Mebbe," he said in a low voice.

"We're cousins," James said. "You can tell me."

"Well, see, I pulled out quatre dis mornin'," Philippe informed him. "Started out wit' trois but I got curious. De first I pulled out was moi, de Jack o' Clubs. De second card was de Queen o' Diamonds..."

"And I know who that is," James said with an eye roll. Philippe scowled, glaring at him.

"And den, de t'ird was de 7 o' clubs," Philippe told him. "Dat means competition. I got curious and wondered if de cards would tell me _who_ dis competition was. I pulled out de Jack o' Spades."

"Who's that?" James asked, feeling curious now.

"Don' know," Philippe stated with a shrug. "Dat be de most troublin' t'ing. See, de Jack o' Spades tends t' be a gang leader or a delinquent. So he ain't friendly."

"Well, why don't you pull the cards again and see what you get," James suggested. Philippe nodded and shuffled the cards. He pulled out three cards. The Jack of Clubs, the Queen of Diamonds, and the nine of hearts. "What's that mean?" James asked.

"Well, a wish may come true or de bot' o' us could over indulged in food an' drink," Philippe said flatly.

"Try again," James said, trying to get his cousin's spirits up. The Queen of Diamonds again, the nine of Spades, and the six of diamonds. Philippe's face paled and he jumped up. "What?! What is it?!"

"Audrey may be gettin' in trouble soon!" Philippe yelled over his shoulder, rushing out of the danger room.

----

Audrey ran through the woods, having successfully avoided the resident telepath and resident teleporter. She laughed, pleased with herself. She continued to run, looking over her shoulder occasionally, just to make sure. Suddenly, she felt herself fall and realized that she should have paid attention. Now she was falling down a deep ditch. Before she could do anything, she felt her ankle twist and start to throb. She let out a cry as she continued to roll down into the ditch, feeling another twist in her arm. As she finally stopped, she scowled into the cold snow.

What was the point of being a mutant if this happened? She tried to push herself up but realized her arm was twisted really bad and she just flopped back down into the white powder. She let out a few string of curses as she landed on her bad arm. She heard the crunch of the snow and managed to look up, relieved that someone had found her.

Until she realized who that was. Looking down at her with green eyes, Animan examined her. Audrey struggled to get up, succeeding slightly but winced as she put weight on her bad ankle. She examined him and realized he was only wearing a pair of jeans.

"Aren' ya cold?" Slipped out before she could stop it.

"No, I adapt," he replied calmly, watching her movements carefully. Audrey got in a fighting position, ready for whatever would happen. Animan let out a good laugh at that. "Even if I was interested in fightin' you, doll, you're in no shape." Audrey narrowed her eyes and her head throbbed. She must of hit her head too. No wonder she couldn't take her shadow form. She bit back a groan. Great. She was injured , couldn't power up, and an enemy was standing in front of her. He leg gave out on her and Animan stepped forward to catch her but she shoved him away.

"I don' need yer help!" She snarled. He raised an eyebrow, a clearly amused look on his face. He crossed his arms and watched as she began to stagger back the way she came.

"Three...Two...One..." He said and Audrey promptly fell and swore again. He walked over to her and looked down at her, hands in his pockets. "Sure you don't need help?"

"I am quide sure, Mister Animan," Audrey said venomously.

"I believe that why?" He inquired.

"Because I said so," Audrey told him. He knelt down, reaching out to help her up.

"Not a good enough reason," he stated.

"Don't touch me!" Audrey exclaimed, grabbing his wrist and managing to toss him onto his back. He let out a feral growl and snatched her by the waist, sending her flying. She landed safely in a pile of snow. She stood up as best she could, glowering at the man.

"I try to be nice," he growled, flexing his hands to make claws. "You just don't trust me, hm?"

"Why should I?" Audrey asked, matching his glare. "Yer a member of the Brotherhood. We're _enemies_."

"Only on missions," he replied. "Always found you interesting, Shade."

"Oh, I'm so flattered," Audrey scoffed, wondering how long the head injury would mess with her powers.

"If it's a fight you want, I'll give it," Animan stated, charging her. Audrey held herself ready, unsure of what animal he would choose to take. Oddly enough, no gold energy was around him as he swung. Audrey skillfully avoided it as best she could, landing a hit in his gut. He moved quickly and grabbed her around the waist, throwing her over his head. She skidded to a halt in the snow, glowering at him as her ponytail fell loose. She got up as quickly as her injuries allowed her-just in time to avoid a strike from the man. She pivoted on her ankle and realized it was her bad ankle. She gave a cry as he leg gave out and realized Animan had caught her.

"Oh joy, are ya gonna kidnap me now ta gehd the secreds a' the X-Men?" She drawled out sarcastically.

"Perfect plan, I'll take your advice," he replied flatly, lifting her over his shoulder and walking towards the Institute.

"Pud me down!" Audrey yelled, causing him to wince.

"Try to be a gentleman and this is the thanks ya get," he grumbled.

"A gentleman wouldn' carry a lady like this!" Audrey retorted.

"There's a lady here?" This got a punch in between the shoulder blades. Animan winced but ignored it. He stopped for a moment, listening. Audrey opened her mouth to say something but stopped.

"Audrey!" She heard Philippe yelling. She pushed herself up a bit.

"Philippe! Gehd yer sorry carcass over here this instan'!" She yelled out.

"Oh, it's the boyfriend," Animan drawled spitefully.

"Nahd my boyfriend," Audrey snarled back. Animan rolled his eyes at that.

"Homme, y' best be puttin' her down **now**," Audrey heard Philippe say darkly.

"Would but seems she twisted her ankle really bad," Animan replied, having a stare down with the other man.

"Den hand her over t' me," Philippe said and Audrey heard his footsteps crunching in the snow.

"I feel like a ragdoll," Audrey stated flatly, obviously annoyed with the entire situation. She quickly managed to push off of Animan's shoulder and fell right into Philippe. She winced as she stood straight, Philippe keeping his hands on her shoulders. Animan gave a slightly amused look down at her but was distracted when Philippe removed a hand from her shoulders and held out a charged card. The Jack of Spades.

"Well, we should do it again, doll," Animan told Audrey, ignoring the protective Cajun.

"I'll whoop ya harder," Audrey told him sternly. At that, he laughed.

"Please," he said. He looked from James, to Philippe then back to Audrey. His gaze stayed on her longer than Philippe liked.

"Homme, I t'ink it be time y' leavin'," he said lowly. "T'ank y' for helpin' ma chere an' bringin' her back dis far. But I really suggest y' take your leave now." Animan and Philippe stared each other down again for a moment before Animan gave a slightly lazy grin and salute, turning back to the wilderness. As soon as he was out of sight, Philippe loosened his grip on Audrey. She glowered at him and he blinked.

"Quoi?" He asked. She shoved him to the side and stormed the best she could back towards the mansion. James rolled his eyes, following a little behind.

"I don' need yer protectin', Philippe!" She told him sternly, limping a bit. Philippe glowered a bit and walked up beside her.

"Chere, you got banged up real bad," he told her fiercely, grabbing her arm gently.

"I'm gonna head back to the mansion," James said guffly and was ignored by the feuding pair. He rolled his eyes and hurried past them.

"Don' mean I can'd handle myself," Audrey retorted.

"Oh? Dat be why he was carryin' you?" Philippe scoffed. Audrey blinked, staring at him.

"Hold on a minude," she said. "Are you..._**Jealous**_?" Philippe let out a bitter laugh.

"Moi? Jealous? Cherie, y' t'ink I lack de confidence to go t' dat?" He said, turning to her and taking her hand.

"Actually, yes," Audrey told him. Philippe let out a chuckle and gentle kissed her knuckles and noticed her wince a bit. He took her wrist gently in his hold, examining it. He removed her glove and pulled her sleeve up. He saw the bruise developing and gently put a kiss on it.

"We'll get y' fixed up right soon, ma chere," he told her. He saw her blush before she pulled her hand from his grip, wincing a bit. He handed her glove back, looking at her concerned as she started to limp. "Audrey. I won' carry y' but at _least_ lean on my arm. You're in pain." Audrey froze and looked at him, surprised. She then gave a small smile, raising an eyebrow sarcastically.

"See if ya can keep up, Cajun," she said, offering her arm. Philippe grinned and walked over to her, setting her arm on his.

"Don' t'ink dat'll be a problem, ma chere," he joked.

----

Doctor McCoy had been gone to Washington DC at the time so Danielle took it upon herself to doctor her sister, seeing as she normally was the nurse under McCoy.

"Professor, we need a full time med person," she complained to Xavier. Xavier gave a small, knowing smile

"I think I know someone who may be interested, actually," he replied. "A writer who has a practice on the side."

"Mutan'?" Audrey asked.

"Yes, but not many people know it," Xavier stated.

"Ah, a secret mutant," Philippe said with a smirk. "Clever."

"I'll try to get in contact with her," Xavier said, turning to leave. "This time of year is rather busy for her."

"All righ', prof," Audrey said, waving as he left.

"Let me call Dr. McCoy real quick, Aud," Danielle said, turning to the phone. "I sent him the details of your injury in an e-mail. I'll just see if he got them and what he suggests."

"Joy, more time in the needle room," Audrey drawled out. Danielle rolled her eyes as she dialed and Philippe grinned.

"Need some comfortin', ma chere?" He teased lightly.

"Nahd from ya," Audrey snapped.

"Mm, okay, I'll tell her," Danielle said over the phone. "Bye Dr. McCoy." She hung up the phone and turned to the pair. "First off, Audrey, you are not allowed to do anythin' excessive for a normal person for a week. Second off, Philippe, you don't stop hittin' on my sister, you'll be in here for yourself."

"Dieu, everyone out t' get Philippe," Philippe whined out.

"Stop yer complainin'," Audrey told him, taking the crutch from her sister and rising. "Least ya ain' gahdda deal with this."

"I will be happy to help you in anyway," Philippe told her with a nod.

"Then shud up," Audrey ordered, limping to the door.

"Cept dat," Philippe said as he and Danielle followed her out.

----

Wilhelm walked into the rec room, seeing Magda sitting and watching the television. He ported over beside her, frowning a bit.

"How are you doin', Magda?" He asked calmly.

"Jus' grand, Willy," Magda told him, a sour tone still in her voice. Wilhelm gently put a hand on her shoulder.

"C'mon, you have to be happy for your Vater," he said. "Vhat vill John do if he zees you like zhis?" Magda let out a strangled sigh.

"Guess you're royght, mate," she agreed. "Oy'll be royght and chipper for my Dad."

"Zhat's zhe spirit! Now, let's go sledding!" Wilhelm suggested, taking Magda's arms and pulling her off the couch and out the door.

----

"I'm pleased you could come on such short notice," the professor said as he made his way down the hall with a woman in her late thirties. Her light blonde hair was short and well kept and her eyes a cyan tone. She was tall and skinny, appearing to be rather limber. Her outfit was a clean and crisp cream suit with brown dress shoes and a light blue top underneath.

"It's not a problem at all, Professor," she said in a rich British accent. "I was in the area anyway and am happy to visit the school whenever possible. Now, you mentioned the need of a medical doctor? What happened to Dr. McCoy?"

"Well, Hank is very busy in Washington as of late," the professor informed her. "And the issue came up as of late. One of the students here fell and injured herself. The only one who could take care of her was the student who nurses under Hank. She does not have the qualifications if something worse happens." The woman nodded, considering this.

"Well, my book tour just ended and I can have my things sent from Maine here if that's all right," she said.

"That's absolutely perfect, Dr. Louis," Xavier said, pleased.

"Professor, you know very well you can call me Annalee," she told him.

"Then you must call me Charles," Xavier said.

"All right, Charles," the British woman said with a nod.

"We'll have a formal introduction at dinner," Xavier stated, showing her to her room.

"Super," Annalee said. "I'll just stop by my hotel and gather up my things. I'll be back in a jiffy." She turned to go and nearly ran into Forge. "Oh! My apologies. I need to watch where I'm going."

"It's not a problem," Forge told her.

"Forge, this is Annalee Louis," Xavier told him. "She will be taking over as the main medical personnel. Annalee, this is Forge, our mechanic and inventor." The two shook hands.

"A pleasure to meet you Forge," Annalee said with an affirming nod.

"No, it's all mine," Forge replied. Annalee gave a small chuckle and turned to go.

"Oh, have you informed Logan that I'm going to be working here, Professor?" She asked, looking over her shoulder. Xavier gave a small smile.

"No, not yet," he said. "I should probably inform him, right?"

"Right," Annalee said, going down the staircase.

"She and Logan know each other?" Forge asked.

"She was a student here while you were in the military," Xavier told him. "She gave Logan a lot of problems but they're good friends. She even allowed him to use her writing lodge up in the Maine wilderness as a get away."

"Hm, interesting," Forge said, crossing his arms and watching where Annalee had gone off to. "So, what does she do anyway? Her mutation, I mean."

"Her primary mutation is illusion making and her secondary is telekinesis," Xavier informed him. "Now, how fair your inventions, Forge?"

"Oh, great," Forge told him. "I'm working on this new device..."

----

Christmas special. Christmas special. Christmas special. Audrey let out a disgruntled groan and threw the remote down after finding a law and cop show. After a few moments, she realized **that** was a Christmas special as well and turned the T.V. off completely. She hated having to take it easy. She wanted to _do_ something! There was snow outside, for goodness sake! It wasn't like her leg was busted or something...Just sprained...

She grumbled under her breath and crossed her arms. Part of her mind vaguely wondered where the Cajun had gotten off to.

As if reading her mind, said Cajun walked into the room. With chocolate cake. And milk. Curses. A weakness of hers. He set it down gently on the coffee table in front of her and sat beside her, putting his arm behind her.

"So, we watchin' a blank screen?" He asked nonchalantly as Audrey reached for the delicious treat.

"Too many Christmas specials," Audrey informed him. "I mean, I don' mind them ad firs' bud there's this thing called overkill..."

"I see what you mean, chere," Philippe said with a nod.

"Now, nex' thing, why did you bring this in?" Audrey said as she stuck a piece of the cake in her mouth. "You know we ain' had dinner yed."

"Y're not happy," Philippe stated calmly. "I don' like ma chere to be like dat." Audrey stared at him and set the plate down, resting her head on his shoulder. "Aud-"

"Hush id," she told him sternly, turning to snuggle next to him. Philippe let out a slight chuckle and played with some loose strands of her hair. Audrey closed her eyes and snuggled closer to him, content.

"Well, aren't you two the picture?" The two heard James say from the entry way.

"I should get the camera," Rachel mused as well. The two on the couch looked over at them and smirked. Rachel looked confused. "What?"

"Look up, dear," Audrey told her. James and Rachel looked up to see mistletoe hanging directly above them. "Now, whad was thad aboud gettin' a camera?" Before the two could do anything else, Danielle and Azari entered the room from another entrance. Danielle raised an eyebrow at her sister and Philippe but clapped her hands excitedly at seeing Rachel and James.

"You two have ta kiss now," she said excitedly. If it didn't get worse, at that moment, Logan and Laura decided to walk in. They smirked at James' predicament. Logan crossed his arms, raising his eyebrows.

"Well?" He teased slightly. James and Rachel looked at each other and grimaced.

"Jimmy et Rachel, sittin' in a tree," Philippe started to chant.

"I thought you were the oldest," James growled at him.

"I'm still a kid at heart, mon ami," Philippe said with a wide grin. James and Rachel turned back to each other and kissed swiftly, both of their faces a shade of rouge.

"That was disgusting," Rachel stated. James growled and stalked off. Audrey looked around the room and quickly got away from Philippe, much to the Cajun's displeasure.

"Well kids, it's dinner time," Logan said, an amused smile on his face. "And we got a permanent guest." Confused by this statement, everyone entered the dining room. Magda and Wilhelm showed up there just in time. Everyone was seated and waiting for the professor and the mysterious person. Annalee and Xavier entered the room.

"Everyone, this is Annalee Louis," Xavier informed them. "She will be our new main medical personnel."

"And my codename is," Annalee added, "Mislie."

**Author Note(s) (cont.): Yay, it's done. Now I just have to work on some other stories. Haaaa...**

**There's a fair amount in this chapter that was built up to be played with in later chapters. So yeah.**

**Next time: Azari is home on leave and trouble comes up in the form of the White Wolf...**


	9. Interlude

**Author Note(s): This is a little run interlude that I'm writing up to get a bit more of my writeyness flowing. I've hit a stump as of late. Sooo...This little interlude involves Artifice and Shade. Just for giggles I guess.**

**The next chapter is halfway done. I just have to figure out an issue I've run into with continuity in my universe so hold on, haha.**

**I don't own X-Men: Evolution.**

"Y' cook like a Kentuckian." At the comment, Audrey turned and gave an look to Philippe.

"Whad have I said 'boud you bein' in the kitchen when I'm cookin'?" She exclaimed, annoyance evident in her voice. "Now you pud thad spoon down this instan'!" Philippe backed up, placing the spoon down by the pot of soup. He slowly put his hands up.

"Now, chere, 'M just here t' see how y' doin' an' if y' need any help," he said to the fuming woman in front of him.

"The las' person I need help from is **you**, Mistah LeBeau," Audrey told him, turning back to her green beans.

"Mebbe y' should add a little-"

"I ain' addin' any a' yer Cajun spices, Cajun," Audrey cut him off.

"Mais it would-"

"No."

"Please?"

"No! When id's yer turn ta' cook, then you can do whad ya wan'," Audrey snapped at him. Philippe pouted slightly then sat down on a stool.

"Why do y' cook like a Kentuckian anyway? You're from Ohio, non?"

"I cook like a Kentuckian cause my grandma was from Kentucky an' she taugh' my momma an' my momma taugh' me," Audrey stated plainly, checking on the chicken.

"What else did y' mere teach y', cherie?" Philippe asked, enjoying the view. Audrey slammed the oven door and turned and glared at him. "Quoi?"

"You were starin' ad my butt," Audrey accused knowingly.

"It's a nice view," he replied plainly. Audrey deepened her glower at him while he merely grinned mischievously.

" I swear ya were dropped on yer head as a kid," Audrey sighed, turning back to the stove. "Hones'ly, ain' ya ever heard a' a Southern Gent'?"

"Y' saying I ain't one?" Philippe asked.

"Yes."

"Tu me blessez! I can so be de perfect Southern Gentleman," Philippe exclaimed. Audrey turned and gave him a slightly exasperated look. "Quoi? Y' question me?"

"I question ya on more than thad," Audrey commented, continuing with her chore. Philippe gave her an annoyed look, but she couldn't see it.

"Mm-kay, chere, I'll bite," Philippe finally said. "What's a Southern Gentleman?"

"Well, ya gotta be a gentleman first off," Audrey told him. "And thad means nahd perving a gal."

"It's not my fault dat you are lovely everywhere, ma chere," Philippe replied.

"An' they're always polite," Audrey said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm polite!" Philippe exclaimed.

"An' they're oh so humble," Audrey stated, giving him a look.

"Okay, dere's a fault," Philippe agreed. "Une fault."

"Can you use an iron and spray starch?"

"Oui. Don' forget dat we Sout'ern Gent's are shameless flirts," he replied with a wicked grin. So, out of all de t'ings y' mentioned, I didn't fit int' une." Audrey grew frustrated and opened her mouth multiple times to reply but merely turned with a humph.

"Stop sittin' on yer lazy butt and gehd over here and help me," she said after a beat. Phlippe grinned and made his way over to the stove.


	10. Black and White

**Author Note(s): I know you're all thinking finally! I have to agree with you on that. I finally got through the writer's block and now you see Storm and her family! I love N'Yami. She's so spunky.**

**I don't own X-Men: Evolution.**

Azari stepped off of the Black Bird, Wilhelm and James following.

"If you haf any problems, just call," Wilhelm told him. "Y'know, if you get _bored_, oh leader."

"I'm rather sure affairs of state will keep my busy," Azari replied back as he looked around the Wakandan airport. Wilhelm rolled his eyes at that while James snickered.

"You are too serious, mein Freund," Wilhelm stated. That was when they noticed the limousine pull up. An elegant and regal looking couple stepped out. The woman had light brown skin while the man had deep, dark skin. The woman's long, snow white hair danced in the sunlight and the man had a military black hair cut. Both were in their black "hero" outfits-albeit, the Black Panther did not wear his mask. Azari nodded to his friends and walked over to the two, Storm taking him in a hug, her blue eyes shining. She made her way to the Black Bird, smiling at the two boys.

"How are my friends doing?" She asked.

"Vater is doing very vell Tante 'Ro," Wilhelm informed her.

"Gramps and Mom ain't doin' half bad either," James told her. "We also finally got that slimy Cajun to agree to join the team."

"Philippe?" Storm asked with a small smile on her features.

"Ja, all it took vas a girl," Wilhelm said. "Ve should've zhought of zhat sooner."

"Which girl?" Storm asked, raising a skeptically eyebrow.

"Shade," James and Wilhelm replied. Storm stared at the two for a moment then chuckled a bit.

"Really?" She asked.

"Really," James and Wilhelm said again.

"Vell, ve ought to be going," Wilhelm said. "Vater und Mutter are vaiting for me and James is supposed to have zhe Black Bird back in five hours."

"Can you make it back that soon?" Storm asked, shocked. James and Wilhelm traded devilish smirks.

"We're the pilots, Aunt 'Ro," James stated. "What do **you** think?" Storm rolled her eyes, an amused smile on her face.

"I don't want to think about _that_," she said. "You boys be safe."

"Hey!" Rachel said, exiting the plane. "Let's get goin', boys!"

"Ah, you have Rachel with you," Storm said. "Now I'm not so worried."

"You should be," Wilhelm said. "James might get..._Distracted_." James growled and jumped at Wilhelm, only for the boy to port into the jet. James grumbled and walked past Rachel, back onto the Black Bird. Rachel waved at Storm.

"Tell N'Yami and T'Wari I said hi," she said, turning to follow the boys.

"I will, Rachel," Storm told her. She turned and walked back to her husband and son.

"Speaking of those two, where are they?" Azari asked.

"T'Wari is handling some affairs of state," T'Challa stated. "And I'm not sure where your sister vanished off to this time."

"I'll stay on my toes when we get to the palace," Azari commented as the family got into the limousine.

Azari entered the Wakandan palace, looking from side to side cautiously but not noticeably. N'Yami had the silence of a panther on the prowl and often loved to test it out on him. He stopped for a moment and swung around, catching the sixteen year old girl firmly. Her dark brown hair was tusseled and looked as if she'd be running and fighting all day. She wore a golden colored headband with a matching jacket, belt, long gloves, and boots. Underneath, she wore a tight black tube top and tight black khapris. The fingers and toes of her gloves and boots were black. Her amber brown eyes glowered at Azari.

"Lemme go!" She ordered.

"Have you been fighting the warriors again?" Azari asked.

"Don't I always?" N'Yami said bluntly.

"Yes."

"Then duh." Azari gave her an exasperated look.

"N'Yami, you are the princess of Wakanda," he started. "This behavior is-"

"Blah blah blah," N'Yami cut in. Azari glowered at her. "You're just like Dad. I say it's a good thing that a girl can whip guys, y'know? Especially a princess. How often is a princess kidnapped for ransom?" Azari gave her an exasperated look.

"Who the heck do you take after?" He finally asked.

"Just like if you multiply a negative and a negative together, you get a positive," N'Yami said with a shrug.

"Is that so, N'Yami?' T'Challa asked, entering with Storm. He chuckled and ruffled the teen girl's hair.

"Hey Dad, hey Mom," N'Yami said.

"N'Yami, don't bother Azari too much," Storm told her. "You know how those trips can be tiring."

"Yeah, yeah, right," N'Yami said, not looking like she cared too much. Azari gave a slight smile. He knew she was just excited that he was back. Even if it was only for a little while.

"You get your things unpacked and rest," T'Challa told him. "Dinner at the usual time."

"Yes, Father," Azari said with a nod, heading up to his room with N'Yami following.

"So," she started.

"No," Azari said firmly.

"What? I didn't even get to my question!" N'Yami exclaimed.

"I know what you're going to ask," Azari said. "You are not joining the X-Men."

"Why not?" N'Yami growled.

"Because you are the princess of Wakanda," Azari said sharply.

"And you're the prince," N'Yami shot back.

"But I'm not the _heir_," Azari told her.

"Neither am I," N'Yami said.

"Oh-kay, let's go about this differently," Azari dragged out. "You are my little sister and I am the protective brother who says no no matter what your argument is."

"That's not fair," N'Yami groaned as they reached Azari's bedroom door.

"Live with it," Azari replied, opening the door, entering, and closing it before the girl could follow. She'd find a way in soon enough, knowing her. He let out a low sigh and threw his bag on the large bed, the black silk and white comforter feeling amazing as he laid down. Even though he was on leave, his mind kept wondering over the events as of late. And they all centered on Magneto. Who was this guy and where did he come from? The only person with Magneto's powers that Azari knew of before hand was Polaris, the original Magneto's daughter. From what mother, no one was entirely sure. He rolled onto his stomach and replayed the information in his head. Scarlet Witch was missing, Magneto may or may not of been behind that little ruse that the Brotherhood pulled, and the mind controlling devices. What was it all leading to?

He growled in annoyance and flipped back to his back, staring up at the ceiling. He dragged a hand down his face, trying to put it all together. He sat up, considering something. What was Scarlet Witch's power exactly? He knew her hex bolts hurt like hell (experience from Danger Room sessions when she visited) but there seemed to be more. He pulled out his phone and quickly dialed the Institute's number.

"Xavier's school for Gifted Youngsters," the crisp British voice of the newest adult member said. "Annalee Louis speaking."

"Doctor, can you patch me through to Forge?" Azari inquired.

"Forge actually is out for the time being, Azari," Annalee informed him. "Maybe it's something I can do...?"

"Just tell Forge to send me some information on Scarlet Witch from our database," Azari told her.

"You're working? You're on leave, luv," Annalee told him.

"I can't relax until I figure this all out, Doctor," Azari told her.

"Annalee, please," she told him. "And I'll tell Forge as soon as he returns."

"Thanks, Annalee," Azari said. "By the way, don't you have someone to visit over Christmas?"

"I'll be picking my son, Elijah, up for a week in a few days," she told him, a slight tone of sadness lacing her voice.

"Oh, sorry for bringing it up," Azari said, putting two and two together.

"It's perfectly all right," Annalee said. "You asked a legitimate question and I answered. Have a good vacation."

"Have a good time with your son," Azari told her. The two hung up and Azari decided to rest for a while like his father had suggested.

Annalee looked up from the phone station as Logan walked in.

"Which kid?" He asked.

"Azari," Annalee informed him. "He wanted information on Scarlet Witch. Do you know what exactly she does?"

"Hex bolts and stuff like that," Logan said with a shrug. "I don't really pay that much attention as long as I get use my claws." Annalee rolled her eyes, a slight smirk on her face.

"As usual, Logan," she commented. She glanced over the surveillance scenes, quickly taking in all of the details before turning back to Logan. "Isn't one of the primary rules when going into battle is to know your enemy _and_ your allies? The Soviet Union did not obey that in World War two..."

"Watch it, Louis," Logan growled having flashbacks to the war.

"Apologies," Annalee said, turning back to the equipment. "He works far too hard, Logan."

"Being assigned leader does that to you," Logan gruffed out. Annalee looked over her shoulder at him, smirking a bit.

"Oh? So if we randomly decided to make you a leader, would you not be so flighty?" She inquired. Logan merely cocked an eyebrow in reply. "All right, all right, I'll get back to work, Mister Logan." She then turned back to the screens while Logan walked out.

Dinner within the Wakandan royal household was normal as far as their family was normal. Which was not that much. While the parents and the eldest sibling held themselves regally and would inquire of Azari's time in America, while the daughter attempted to annoy Azari in any way, shape, or form. Azari was not entirely amused by this but would indulge his sister.

Suddenly, a guard entered and whispered something to Azari's father. Azari and N'Yami's keen hearing managed to pick something up about The White Wolf. T'Challa rose.

"Continue with your meal," he said as the other members of the family moved to rise. "T'Wari is going to come with me." T'Wari rose and the two men left. N'Yami leaned over to Azari and muttered so only he could hear

"I wonder what they're up to." Azari gave her a scolding look.

"N'Yami, no plotting," Storm ordered her daughter. N'Yami opened her mouth to argue but Azari gave her a quick jab with his elbow. N'Yami glowered at him but returned to eating.

By nightfall, T'Challa and T'Wari had yet to return. Azari had returned to his room and was skimming over the files of the Scarlet Witch. His keen ears picked up a soft, barely audible sound in the courtyard below. He slowly made his way over to the balcony to look out. He swore under his breath as he saw N'Yami taking off towards the wall. He quickly made his move, leaping down to the courtyard and following after her. He saw her leap over the wall and did so when he reached it.

"N'Yami!" He said in a loud whisper. "C'mon, let's go back so you don't get in trouble!" He looked around, trying to find his sister. His sensitive eyes saw a bush move and quickly went over towards it. "N'Yami?" He moved closer to the bush cautiously. "N'Yami?" He repeated, growing anxious. Suddenly, a figure leapt out at him. He gave a surprised yelp and his hands glowed blue with electricity. He quickly defused it when he saw the figure clearly. "N'Yami," he said, exasperated.

"I need your help," N'Yami said stubbornly. Azari gave her a look and crossed his arms.

"With what?" He asked.

"Finding Dad and T'Wari," she told him. Azari rolled his eyes and sighed.

"It's Dad and T'Wari. They're fine," he stated. "Now let's go back before we get in trouble."

"But I have a feeling!" N'Yami said, grabbing his arm as he turned to go back to the palace.

"N'Yami, let go!" He ordered.

"No!" N'Yami said, almost sounding like a panther's scream. Azari froze and looked at her glowing amber eyes. Before he could react, N'Yami slammed him to the ground and twisted his arm behind his back. "I. Have. A. Feeling," she growled out.

"Fine," Azari managed to get out. "Now let go so we can look otherwise I will electrocute you." Slowly the hold on his arm loosened and he stood up, N'Yami staring at him, her eyebrows furrowed in determination. "Where do we start looking?" He asked, crossing his arms and giving her a stern look.

"From the information I managed to gather, the White Wolf's headquarters are possibly in an old abandoned factory on the edge of the city," N'Yami informed him. "Even if that place has cleared out, we'll be able to possibly catch a scent." Azari nodded, slightly surprised by how in depth N'Yami was being.

"They'll have a lot of security set up," he told her.

"That's where you come in with a nice charge," N'Yami told him.

Azari paused for a moment then nodded, saying "all right, let's go."

Azari landed quietly on the roof and looked down in the window. Through the dark he saw Hatut Zeraze men standing guard with assault rifles. He lifted his wrist and spoke into the communicator.

"Where ever you got that information, N'Yami, you were right," he said softly. "I'm seeing about five Hatut Zeraze from my position."

"I've got two here," N'Yami replied.

"All right, I want you to come up to the roof and-" a sudden smack on the back of his head shocked him and everything started to fade to black.

Before everything was gone, he felt his assailant pick up his wrist and say to his sister "It would appear you are on your own."

N'Yami stared at her wrist communicator, her face paling as the voice rang out over it. Then, her face darkened, her eyes flashing dangerous.

"I swear, if you have hurt my brothers or father, you will deeply regret it," she growled out.

"We'll see, little panther," the deep voice replied. Azari's communicator went dead at that moment. N'Yami bit her lip, trying to come up with something. She hid herself in the shadows, her eyes gleaming in the moonlight. She waited patiently and saw that the Hatut Zeraze were even more watchful than before. She waited for her opportunity and took out one of the females and quickly changed outfits. She then followed the guard path she watched the female go on and managed to get inside. She slowly crept down the hallways and managed not to be detected.

Eventually, she found her way to the holding cells. She slowly crept along the shadows, her eyes spotting her brothers and father there. She examined the cells they were in. She noted that they were power neutralizer cells and that you needed a special code to open them. She double checked to make sure no one else was there and removed the mask, stepping into the light.

"N'Yami!" T'Challa said, almost scolding.

"No time," N'Yami told him. "Did any of you catch the combination used to lock these cells?"

"Try this combination," T'Wara told her and said the combination. It worked instantly.

"You pay too much attention," N'Yami muttered as the three men exited the cells. Suddenly, an alarm went off.

"Of course it set off an alarm," Azari muttered, rubbing the back of his sore head.

"Let's go!" T'Challa ordered, taking off. His three children followed after him. The moved quickly and were stopped just short of the exit by the Hatut Zeraze. In the front of the group was the White Wolf.

"It would seem it's a family reunion," he said coolly.

"I suppose so," T'Challa replied. Suddenly, the two were at each other with lightning fast reflexes.

"Squall," Azari said to T'Wari, "want to give a blast?" T'Wari grinned a bit.

"But of course," he said, conjuring up a wind and blasting some of the henchmen back. One managed to escape being swept back and leapt at N'Yami. She skillfully avoided and managed to slice the fabric along the fabric's grain with her claws. When she did that, she gave a hard round house kick to the cut, sending the man flying back. Azari's markings glowed blue as lightning danced off of his hands. He sent a bolt to one of the henchmen has he ran at him. The lightning was so intense it ripped through the fabric and the henchmen flew back, knocked out.

The Black Panther and the White Wolf were in a deadlock. Neither had yet to yield and it did not seem the battle between the pair would end for a while.

"Father, let us help!" T'Wari exclaimed.

"No! Stay out of this," T'Challa ordered, avoiding a hit from the White Wolf. Azari examined the building. He looked at N'Yami and grabbed her, running to the door.

"What're you doing?" N'Yami exclaimed.

"There's an electrical bomb!" Azari yelled as he threw her out of the building just in time. The building was demolished. N'Yami covered her head to protect herself. She looked up as soon as the blast was done, her eyes wide.

"No!" She screamed like a panther. She scampered up and ran to the wreckage, searching for her family. "Dad! T'Wari! Azari! Please! Someone!" She threw some debris to the side, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. "Please...Be alive..." Suddenly, a blue lightning bolt shot up into the sky, blasting away some debris. "Azari!" N'Yami exclaimed, rising and running over to the spot. She saw the three men and let out a relieved sigh. She saw that her father had protected her brothers by covering them with his body due to the fact that his outfit was made from a protective, armor like fabric.

"He got away," Azari muttered, annoyed.

"There will be another time for our meeting him, Azari," T'Challa said. "For now, let's just be happy that we're all alive." On that note, N'Yami rushed the three and gave them big bear hugs, crying tears of joy.

Wilhelm waited at the entrance of the Blackbird for Azari to say his farewells. The prince made his way to the plane, walking up the stairs.

"So, mein Freund, how vas your vacation?" Wilhelm asked.

"Oh, nothing out of the ordinary," Azari told him. "How about yours?"

"Just helped mein Vater wizh zhe kids in de European branch," Wilhelm replied. "Ready to head home?"

"Yeah, I'm ready," Azari said with a small grin.

**Next time in Evolved. News of Magneto's whereabouts leads the team to Nashville, Tennessee. There they meet a rogue mutant who does what he wants. Will he be an ally or something else...?**


End file.
